Department for Transport

Level Crossings

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the next round of funding for railway safely projects to be allocated to the closure of level crossings.

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the next phase of level crossing closures.

Joseph Johnson: Network Rail continually assess level crossings to either close or reduce their risk by carrying out upgrades and improvement work. This ongoing process is done to ensure the safety of both crossing users and the travelling public. The funding for specific safety projects is a matter for Network Rail.

Railways: North West

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for a decision to be made on the funding for the Hope Valley Line improvement scheme.

Joseph Johnson: On 13 February 2018, the Secretary of State announced his decision to provide Network Rail Infrastructure Limited with the legal powers to construct, operate and maintain new passing facilities and associated railway infrastructure on the Hope Valley route between Bamford and Hathersage and at Dore. Network Rail have completed the single option design for the railway infrastructure scheme proposed in the Hope Valley and, following last week’s decision, the timetable for further work on this scheme including a final investment decision will be announced in due course.

Railways: South West

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to upgrade the train line between Plymouth and Totnes.

Joseph Johnson: Development of projects that deliver journey time improvements in the southwest peninsula are included in Network Rail’s recently published Strategic Business Plan for Control Period 6 (2019-2024). Network Rail will also explore other opportunities for further improvements with their customers and the Peninsula Rail Task Force. The Government will however determine any new rail infrastructure enhancements proposed for CP6 using a new process, details of which are expected to be announced shortly.

Lifeboats: Wallasey

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the answer to FOI request ID3000 by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the reduced capacity at New Brighton lifeboat station since July 2016, what plans he has to restore New Brighton lifeboat station to full operational capacity.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: New Brighton Lifeboat station is currently operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Operational capacity at any independent RNLI lifeboat station is a matter for the charity to consider. In coordinating a response to any incident, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will consider the range of resources available to them, on an incident‑by-incident basis, before tasking the most appropriate asset.

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when (a) he or (b) Officials of his Department last met with unions or individuals to discuss aerotoxic syndrome.

Jesse Norman: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – the industry regulator – has responsibility for managing and leading meetings on aerotoxic syndrome. The Department for Transport (DfT) last met with unions and individuals to discuss aerotoxic syndrome prior to the 2011 publication of DfT commissioned Cranfield University research into cabin air quality. These research findings were submitted to the Committee on Toxicology (COT) in 2012 who published a position paper on cabin air in 2013. There was no evidence for pollutants on board aircraft occurring at levels exceeding the health and safety standards and guidelines outlined in Chapter 5 of Cranfield University’s “Aircraft Cabin Air Sampling Study; Part 1 of the Final Report”.

Heathrow Airport: Population

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people who live within 10km of Heathrow Airport.

Jesse Norman: The Department has made no specific assessment of the number of people living within 10 km of the airport. However, the Department has carried out and published an Appraisal of Sustainability to support the development of the draft Airports National Policy Statement. This assesses the baseline population affected by Heathrow airport in different ways and with respect to a number of different impacts.

FV Solstice

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the publication of the Marine Investigation Branch report into the sinking of the Solstice trawler off Plymouth in 2017.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I expect the report to be published by the beginning of July.

Department for Transport: Swansea

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's plans are for the Shared Service Centre in Swansea.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Shared Service Centre in Swansea is owned and operated by Arvato, Bertelsmann. The Department for Transport plans to continue to receive Shared Services from Arvato, Bertelsmann until May 2020 when the existing contract expires. The department’s plans beyond May 2020 have not yet been determined.

Public Transport: Crimes of Violence

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of assaults on (a) staff and (b) customers on public transport in each year since 2013.

Joseph Johnson: Crimes on the railway are recorded by British Transport Police (BTP). The Department does not hold information on other forms of public transport. The definition used for assaults stated in the figures below is a count of victims that fall within violence against the person group. On the railways, assaults recorded by BTP of violence against the person amounted to: 2013/14 staff 1,640 customers 4,0272014/15, staff 1,689 customers 4,5622015/16 staff 1,949 customers 5,2192016/17 staff 2,332 customers 5,973 It is important to consider this data in the context of an increase in passenger numbers on the railway, with crimes per million passengers remaining relatively low. In addition, we believe the increase in rail-staff offences is due to more staff being put onto barrier and gate lines across the network, along with train-operating companies encouraging staff to report offences to BTP. For the increase in customer offences, we believe this is due to recent media campaigns which encourage customers to report offences and also the availability to report offences, via text services such as 61016 & through email.

Ministry of Defence

Members: Correspondence

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Bridgend of 12 January 2018 on training fatalities in 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I replied to the hon. Member on 13 February 2018.

Law of War

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish his Department's (a) legal framework and (b) guidance on the use of lethal force.

Mark Lancaster: The use of military force is governed by applicable UK and International Law. The UK Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict sets out UK practice and is available at the following internet address:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-383-the-joint-service-manual-of-the-law-of-armed-conflict-2004-edition.As the Government has stated previously there is no separate policy or legal guidance on the use of force outside of an armed conflict. Rather it has a policy to protect the UK and its citizens against both armed attacks and imminent threats of armed attack. In implementing this policy it may draw on a wide range of options including, in extremis, the use of lethal force. As such a decision to use lethal force outside of an armed conflict would be conducted on a case by case basis.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Company Accounts

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies have had their financial statements rejected by Companies House as unsuitable for filing in each year since 2012-13.

Andrew Griffiths: Companies House does not hold information on the number of companies that had their financial statements rejected. However, the table below shows the number of financial statements that were rejected by Companies House as unsuitable for filing in the periods requested. These figures are not reflective of the number of companies which have had financial statements rejected, as it is possible that more than one set of financial statements were rejected for individual companies within the year in question’  PeriodsNumber of financial statements rejected (UK)2012-201376,0442013-201480,0312014-201582,9202015-201688,0752016-201781,720

Companies

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies had their registered office in each parliamentary constituency in the tax year 2015-16.

Andrew Griffiths: Companies House does not gather information related to the constituency map of the UK, so is unable to provide the number of companies that have their registered off address in each parliamentary constituency.

Companies: Closures

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies were struck off in 2015-16 in each parliamentary constituency in which that company's registered office was located.

Andrew Griffiths: Companies House does not gather information related to the constituency map of the UK, so is unable to provide the number of companies that have been struck off in each parliamentary constituency.

Company Accounts

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many prosecutions there were for financial statements which failed to comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and associated legislation and regulation in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15, (d) 2015-16 and (e) 2016-17; and what the outcome of those prosecutions was.

Andrew Griffiths: The table below details how many prosecutions there were for financial statements that failed to comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and associated legislation and regulation for the periods shown. Number of Prosecutions for Annual Accounts (Financial Statements) UKPeriodNumber of Charges Laid in CourtConvictionsCharges WithdrawnAdjourned to Later date2012-20133,8161,8331,1787162013-20143,7521,8371,3075872014-20154,4442,1261,5457512015-20164,4742,1621,4677742016-20174,0521,9361,445659  Charges that are withdrawn are generally because the company has brought its public record up to date.

Companies: Registration

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what checks are undertaken on the confirmation statements presented by companies for filing at Companies House in order to meet the requirements of the Companies Acts 2006 and associated legislation and regulations.

Andrew Griffiths: Companies may file confirmation statements electronically or on paper, with 99% choosing to do so online. For confirmation statements received electronically, the online filing system contains validation checks to ensure that the document is acceptable for filing. These checks ensure it contains the correct company name and number, it has the correct the information required, the confirmation statement date is included and that it is authenticated by the company. For confirmation statements received on paper, Companies House staff carry out a series of similar checks. Instead of checking whether a filing has been authenticated, they check that the document has been signed and the correct fee has been received.

Companies: Prosecutions

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many prosecutions there were for failure to comply with with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and associated legislation and regulation in (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14, (c) 2014-15, (d) 2015-16 and (e) 2016-17; and what the outcome of each of those prosecutions was.

Andrew Griffiths: The table below shows the number of prosecutions for failure to comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and associated legislation for the periods in question and the outcome of each of those prosecutions. Number of Prosecutions For UKPeriodNumber of Charges Laid in CourtConvictionsCharges WithdrawnAdjourned to Later date2012-20135,6622,7671,6747162013-20145,6582,8961,8745942014-20156,7043,3602,2617612015-20166,8153,4562,1451,0932016-20176,4593,1822,282972 Charges that are withdrawn are generally because the company has brought its public record up to date prior to the hearing.

Offshore Fixed Structures: Scotland

Ross Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the decommissioning of oil platforms on the economy in north east of Scotland.

Claire Perry: With increasing numbers of offshore oil and gas fields reaching the end of their economic life, forecasts from industry estimate that the annual expenditure for decommissioning over the next 5 years will be in the region of £1.7 to £2 billion. While decommissioning is a major cost for industry, and the taxpayer, it offers significant opportunities for the supply chain that will deliver the constituent elements of decommissioning activity. This encompasses a wide range of activities, covering a broad range of skills and expertise.With recent estimates from industry suggesting that decommissioning will represent around 11 per cent of total expenditure on oil and gas for 2017, decommissioning is already benefitting the north east of Scotland and the rest of the UK’s economy. Whilst we don’t have specific figures around the economic impact of the increase in decommissioning of offshore oil and gas installations, we expect to see an increasing proportion of the offshore oil and gas industry focussing on decommissioning activities in the coming years.

Fracking

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what financial benchmarks his Department plans to use to inform its consideration, based on an assessment by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, of the financial resilience of (a) Third Energy UK Gas Limited and (b) other companies proposing to carry out hydraulic fracturing operations.

Claire Perry: As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 25 January 2018, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to assess the financial resilience of Third Energy UK Gas Ltd, including its ability to fund decommissioning costs. That process is still ongoing. The Department will respond further, as appropriate, in due course.

Rothamsted Research

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps have been taken by Rothamsted Research to ensure that conflicts of interest arising from its strategic framework agreement with Bayer are managed and that there is no risk to the perception of independence of Rothamsted’s advice to Government.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Rothamsted Research is an independent organisation and therefore we are unable to comment on specific procedures that the charity may have in place to ensure the independence of advice. Rothamsted Research receives income from many sources. In the case of research grants received from BBSRC, Rothamsted is subject to Research Councils UK’s terms and conditions (http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/funding/grantstcs/) including adhering to best research practice, data sharing polices and access to research outputs.

Employment: EU Law

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is conducting a review of the potential effects on the economy of (a) amending and (b) removing existing EU-derived employment regulations.

Andrew Griffiths: My rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made a clear commitment to protect workers’ rights and the EU (Withdrawal) Bill will ensure that workers’ rights currently enjoyed under EU law will continue to be available in UK law after we have left the EU.

Parental Pay

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people started to receive statutory (a) paternity pay and (b) shared parental pay since April 2015.

Andrew Griffiths: From information provided by employers to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the following individuals started to receive (a) Statutory Paternity Pay and (b) Statutory Shared Parental Pay between April 2015 and September 2017.  Tax year  2015 / 2016Tax year  2016 / 2017April 2017 to September 2017 (inclusive)Numbers in receipt of Statutory Paternity Pay214,500218,600108,600Numbers in receipt of Statutory Shared Parental Pay 6,200*8,700Information is not yet available* This data includes claims for either Statutory Shared Parental Pay or Statutory Additional Paternity Pay: HMRC’s records do not distinguish between the two in 2015/16.

Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate: Finance

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the total budget was for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate in each year from 2007-2008 to 2016-2017.

Andrew Griffiths: Information on the budget for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate: Financial YearBudget2007-08N/A *2008-09N/A *2009-10N/A *2010-11£0.925m (actual spend)2011-12£0.7m (actual spend)2012-13£0.55m (actual spend)2013-14£0.575m2014-15N/A *2015-16£0.5m2016-17£0.5m2017-18£0.725m**  *For the years 07/08, 08/09, 09/10, 10/11 and 14/15, budgets were held at a higher level of aggregation and managed across a number of different programmes, and we do not therefore hold the information requested for these financial years. ** The increase in budget was provided to purchase new IT systems to increase casework productivity and support EAS’ intelligence capability.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Richard Harrington: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not hold centrally any information on the external recruitment agencies used by its non-departmental public bodies.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the removal of appeal rights for energy companies to an independent body, as indicated in the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill, will also apply to National Grid’s RIIO price controls.

Claire Perry: Proposals in the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill will only apply to the implementation of a cap on standard variable and default tariffs. Energy companies would be able to challenge Ofgem’s decision on the setting of the cap by way of judicial review. It does not remove an existing right of appeal.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Regulatory Policy Committee will scrutinise the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The impact assessment for the Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill will be reviewed by the Regulatory Policy Committee.

Energy: Prices

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department sought legal advice on the removal of appeal rights to an independent body as contained in the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs. It does not remove an existing right of appeal. Energy companies would be able to challenge Ofgem’s decision on the setting of the cap by way of judicial review, and the Government believes that a Court is capable of considering these matters. Government Bills are drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel based on instructions from Government lawyers. We are content that the provisions set out in the draft Bill are compliant with the law.

Green Deal Scheme: Standards

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many green deal providers were investigated by the green deal oversight body between 2013 and 2015.

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many green deal providers were investigated by the green deal oversight body between 2015 and 2018.

Claire Perry: Since the Green Deal was introduced, two companies have been investigated by the Green Deal Ombudsman and Investigation Service. The first was concluded in 2015 by a sanction against the company Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Ltd. The other investigation took place during 2015 and did not lead to a sanction. Separately, the Green Deal Oversight and Registration Body carried out 44 audits of Green Deal Providers since 2013.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Correspondence

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 20 December 2016 from Eamon O'Hearn.

Andrew Griffiths: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Yemen: Military Intervention

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many reports the Joint Incident Assessment Team has submitted on operations in Yemen in each month in the most recent 12 months for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: ​The Joint Incidents Assessment Team issued 4 reports in April, 15 in September and a further 5 in November, bringing the total number of reports it has issued to 41. The British Government welcomes the release of these reports which demonstrate the Saudi-led Coalition's continued willingness to conduct thorough, transparent and conclusive investigations into reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law.

Nuclear Weapons: Arms Control

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government's policy is on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The British Government does not intend to sign, ratify or become party to the treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons. We firmly believe that the best way to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach, consistent with the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

Religious Freedom

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make freedom of religion or belief a strategic priority.

Mark Field: The protection of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is a priority of the Government's foreign policy and will continue to be so. In their interactions with foreign governments, and Embassies/High Commissions overseas, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ministers and officials routinely raise individual cases and highlight practices and laws that discriminate against people on the basis of their religion or belief.The United Kingdom also actively promotes FoRB through multilateral forums. At the most recent United Nations Human Rights Council, the UK worked successfully to help maintain consensus on the adoption and implementation of the European Union sponsored Resolution on 'Freedom of Religion or Belief' and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation sponsored Resolution on 'Combating Religious Intolerance'. The FCO also continues to support a number of projects to promote tolerance through the Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy. Current projects include work to promote religious tolerance through secondary school curricula in Iraq, Morocco and Lebanon.

India: Social Security

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, if he will take steps to establish an India-UK social security totalisation agreement; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: ​Ministers and officials are working with counterparts in India on a range of social and economic issues to promote the UK as a place to do business and trade. We are seeking to further improve our relationship. We value our international agreements with India and continue to work together to support our shared ambition for an even stronger partnership.

Religious Freedom

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will provide additional compulsory training on religion and freedom of religion or belief for diplomats and Government officials working in countries where violations of those freedoms are most prevalent.

Mark Field: ​A specific course in Religion and Diplomacy is available to FCO staff designated to take up roles where an understanding of religion is key to their work. We will keep attendance at the course under review, but so far we do not see a need to make this training mandatory.The FCO also runs seminars on specific themes. For example, Bishop Jonathan Goodall spoke to the FCO about Orthodox Christianity and foreign policy.

Tobacco

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how his Department monitors the observance of guidance on support to the tobacco industry in its overseas posts; what assessment he has made of compliance with that guidance by those posts; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: The Government has standing instructions to all diplomatic staff to follow the revised December 2013 guidelines on interactions with tobacco companies. The Government does not catalogue the representations it makes on behalf of companies.

Tobacco

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will set out all instances where assistance was provided to the tobacco industry by UK overseas posts since December 2013.

Mark Field: The Government does not catalogue the representations it makes on behalf of companies. The Government has standing instructions to all diplomatic staff to follow the revised December 2013 guidelines on interactions with tobacco companies. In line with this guidance, however,some assistance may be offered to counter discriminatory practices.

Australia: Detainees

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his counterpart in the Australian Government on the detention of two UK citizens from Edinburgh East by the Australian Border Force following the letter from the hon. Member for Edinburgh East of 16 January 2018.

Mark Field: The operation of the Australian Immigration system is a matter for the Australian Government. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has however been assured by the Australian High Commission that a review of the case is taking place.

Mexico: Missing Persons

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with Mexican officials on the implementation of the new general law on disappearances.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​Our Embassy in Mexico has actively engaged with officials at the National Security Commission and the Attorney General's Office on the new law on disappearances. A delegation of Mexican officials will visit the UK to share best practice.

EU Defence Policy: British Nationals Abroad

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British nationals were seconded to EU military and civilian missions and operations, in which countries those missions were located and by which EU treaty those missions were created, in each of the last 10 years.

Sir Alan Duncan: In 2017, 82 British nationals were deployed to EU Common Security and Defence Policy military operations and missions: 57 at the UK headquarters of the Naval Force for Somalia, eight to the Training Mission in Mali, seven to Force Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, six to the Naval Force in the Mediterranean, and four to the Training Mission in Somalia. A further 120 personnel were in the intermediate reserve held in the UK for Force Althea.25 British nationals were deployed to civilian missions: nine to the Monitoring Mission in Georgia, six to the Advisory Mission in Ukraine, six to the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, three to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office in the Netherlands, and one to the Capacity Building Mission in Mali.These operations and missions were established under the Treaty of European Union, as amended by the Maastricht Treaty in the cases of Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Naval Force Somalia; and as amended by the Treaty of Lisbon in the cases of Ukraine, Mali, the Mediterranean, and the Training Mission to Somalia.The information requested on UK personnel for the years since 2008 is not held centrally but I refer the hon. Member the answer given by my hon. Friend the then Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr Francois) of 1 December 2014 to (PQ) 214602 to the hon. Member for Wrexham (Mr Lucas), and to the House of Lords Library Research Briefing "Leaving the European Union: UK Armed Forces and Diplomatic Service" published on 2 December 2016 (http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/LLN-2016-0066#fullreport).

Sustainable Development

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of Official Development Assistance to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The UK helped secure the landmark Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and we meet the UN's 0.7% gross national income target for Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as a leading ODA-spending department, is helping to advance the SDGs globally by contributing to the objectives of the UK Aid Strategy, particularly in the areas of peace and security, governance and economic development.

Overseas Aid: Disclosure of Information

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the transparency of Official Development Assistance spending.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) remains committed to meeting the target for Official Development Assistance (ODA) Transparency laid down in the UK Aid Strategy, ie, to achieve a rating of Good or Very Good in the International Aid Transparency Index by 2020. We continue to make improvements to the way ODA expenditure is accounted for in our financial and programme management systems and processes. An independent audit by Publish What You Fund is underway and due to report on FCO ODA transparency in June 2018. The FCO will use the recommendations made in this review to make further improvements to its ODA transparency.

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government plans to table a resolution on Yemen in the UN Security Council.

Alistair Burt: The UK keeps under consideration whether a new UN resolution would support progress towards a political settlement in Yemen. Given the lack of agreement between the parties at present we judge that the best opportunity for progress comes through the appointment of Martin Griffiths as the new UN Special Envoy for Yemen, which we welcomed. We encourage the parties to return to negotiations and participate constructively in the UN-led political process.

Burma: Rohingya

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that strong conclusions are adopted on the Rohingya crisis at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 26 February.

Mark Field: Since his visit in mid-February to the region, the Foreign Secretary has continued to discuss with EU colleagues what actions the EU and the international community should take to press for and support the safe, voluntary and dignified return of the Rohingya refuges under international oversight. We look forward to furthering these discussions on 26 February.

Department of Health and Social Care

Care Homes

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) registered care home and (b) nursing home places there were in (i) England and (ii) Greater London in each year since 2016.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) residential care homes and (b) nursing homes have closed since 2016.

Caroline Dinenage: The total number of beds in care homes remains broadly static but high quality care is not just about care home beds and the numbers of care homes. Of those aged 65 and over who need local authority support, 62% are cared for in their own home. The number of home care agencies in England has increased by 55% since 2010 (3,184 more agencies). The following table shows care home bed numbers in England and Greater London 2016 – 2018, as of the date listed in the table.  EnglandLondon RegionDateNumber of Nursing Home BedsNumber of Care Home BedsNumber of Nursing Home BedsNumber of Care Home Beds1 January 2016224,024237,76920,90516,3361 January 2017221,205239,11820,19916,6241 January 2018222,416237,22920,45215,917Data on care home closures is not held centrally.The following table shows care both the total number of care home locations active on 1 January and the number of care home locations deactivated from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017. A location can be deactivated for a number of reasons, and not necessarily because the service has closed. For example, it may have re-registered because it has made changes to its legal structure or changed address. Similarly, other operators may have entered the market and replaced the care provision provided by the deactivation of a location. EnglandLondon Region Nursing HomeResidential HomeNursing HomeResidential HomeYearNumber of Locations Deactivated in yearNumber of Active locations as of 1 JanuaryNumber of Locations Deactivated in yearNumber of Active locations as of 1 JanuaryNumber of Locations Deactivated in yearNumber of Active locations as of 1 JanuaryNumber of Locations Deactivated in yearNumber of Active locations as of 1 January20163704,6481,01012,191303961151,22020174164,51393711,968463801171,1722018 4,489 11,615 374 1,107 Notes: A location with a service type of ‘Care home service with nursing’ is categorised as a ‘Nursing Home’; a location with a service type of ‘Care home service without nursing’ is categorised as a ‘Care Home’; a location may have multiple service types.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will initiate a review of the NHS standards for mental health funding set out in the Fair Share Guidance for clinical commissioning groups; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The weighted capitation funding formulae, sometimes referred to as fair funding formulae, used to set the target National Health Service revenue allocations for individual clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are subject to a rolling review programme. The mental health services component of the formulae is undergoing a comprehensive review in preparation for 2019-20 revenue allocations. However, the weighted capitation formulae themselves are not designed to estimate or enforce revenue spending standards in any particular area of services. It is up to each CCG to decide how it should allocate its resources, taking into account the specific needs of the local population. As part of the NHS England planned refresh for 2018/19, and to reinforce our commitment to increasing investment in mental health services, all CCGs will now be required to achieve the Mental Health Investment Standard (to increase their spend on mental health services in line with, or in excess of, the growth in their allocation). We have also taken steps to ensure that additional investment in children and young people's mental health is delivered. CCGs will be required to demonstrate independent validation of their 2018/19 year-end mental health spend.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ring fencing clinical commissioning group funding for mental health; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department does not generally ring-fence budgets within the National Health Service. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 gave clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) the autonomy to make decisions about the health services that best meet the health needs of their population. They do this based on evidence of patient needs locally. The NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance applies to CCGs and sets out specific requirements, including commissioning mental health services that meet the needs of local populations. The mental health investment standard and NHS England Mental Health Dashboard have been introduced to ensure transparency and accountability and influence CCGs and specialised commissioning hubs to increase their spend on mental health services by a greater amount than the growth in their programme allocation.

Mental Health Services: Asylum

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of asylum seekers who received therapy or counselling from the NHS during 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not centrally collected in this format.

Mental Health Services: Alcoholic Drinks and Drugs

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce drink and drug abuse among mental health service users.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Public Health England, with the support of NHS England, published guidance last year, ‘Better care for people with co-occurring mental health and alcohol/drug use conditions: A guide for commissioners and service providers’. This guidance is designed to help ensure people who have co-occurring problems with mental health and drug use are not excluded from services. In the guidance, commissioners and service providers are encouraged to work together to improve access to services which can reduce harm, improve health, enhance recovery, enable services to respond effectively and flexibly and prevent exclusion. The document is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/625809/Co-occurring_mental_health_and_alcohol_drug_use_conditions.pdf In addition, a national Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme to help prevent ill health by risky behaviours, offers an opportunity for inpatients in mental health services, who drink at or above established risk levels, to be supported with an appropriate evidence-based intervention. The scheme is intended to complement and reinforce existing activity to reduce alcohol harm in this population. Further information is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cquin-indicator-specification/

Department of Health and Social Care: Voting Rights

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to mark the centenary of women getting the right to vote in 1918.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s staff networks will be holding a number of events and activities throughout the year to mark the centenary. These include celebrating International Women's Day and several events celebrating the centenary itself and the contributions that women have made, and continue to make, to the improvements in the fields of health and social care. In addition to this, the Department is taking part in the civil service suffrage flag relay and will host the flag in Leeds and London.

Care Homes: CCTV

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of installing CCTV cameras in care homes on the prevention of abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: No assessment has been made of the potential effect of installing CCTV cameras in care homes, however, we expect serious allegations of abuse and neglect to be thoroughly investigated and prosecutions to be brought where this is warranted. The abuse of people who depend on care services is completely unacceptable, and we are determined to stamp it out. That is why we introduced the new wilful neglect offence which came into force in April 2015. We have made it clear, in statutory guidance to support implementation of the Care Act 2014, that we expect local authorities to ensure that the services they commission are safe, effective and of high quality. We also expect those providing the service, local authorities and the Care Quality Commission to take swift action where anyone alleges poor care, neglect or abuse.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to minimise the waiting time for cervical screening test results.

Steve Brine: Cervical screening turnaround time is a quality measure and allows the National Health Service to understand how fast processes are working. The measure is that at least 98% of screening results letters for women who have attended for their cervical screen should be received within 14 days from the date of the screening appointment. Presently there is a delay in some areas for some women who are waiting to receive the results from their cervical screening test, due to a forthcoming change to the national cervical screening pathway where cytology (which is currently the first test performed on all screening samples) will be replaced by the end of 2019 by a new more automated test than currently; primary human papillomavirus (HPV) screening. This new HPV test brings added benefits for women and will prevent more cases of cervical cancer. Once this new test is implemented the requirement for cytology workforce will reduce. This is already impacting the services as retention of the workforce becomes more difficult. The NHS is putting in place solutions to reduce the time it is taking for women to receive their results, such as establishing a national mitigation plan to provide more capacity ahead of the new primary HPV test being implemented. Equally, local commissioning teams are working with their cervical screening providers to put in place local strategies to improve the turnaround time for women to receive results in their areas.

Lung Cancer: Diagnosis

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to improve the early diagnosis of lung cancer; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: NHS England has made £200 million transformation funding available over two years to drive earlier diagnosis and support people living with and beyond cancer. A number of initiatives are in place to improve early diagnosis of cancer, including lung cancer: - NHE England is implementing the nationally agreed rapid assessment and diagnostic pathways for lung, prostate and colorectal cancers, ensuring that patients get timely access to the latest diagnosis and treatment. - Public Health England ran a national Be Clear On Cancer respiratory symptoms campaign from April to August 2017, focusing on the symptoms of persistent cough and breathlessness. The campaign covered lung cancer along with other conditions such as heart disease and other lung disease. Further information is available at: https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/16-be-clear-on-cancer/overview - NHS England is also trialling new ways of diagnosing cancers faster and earlier, including through pilot programmes offering low dose computed tomography scanning based on an assessment of lung cancer risk in clinical commissioning groups with low lung cancer survival rates.

Accountable Care Organisations

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral answer of 6 February 2018, Official Report, column 1351,  in which document di the King's Fund state that accountable care organisations and integrated care systems make a massive difference in care to patients.

Stephen Barclay: The need to bring providers together and dissolve the historical partitions between primary, community, mental health, social care and acute services is widely acknowledged. Accountable care organisations (ACOs) are means of achieving this as they involve a single provider taking contractual responsibility for providing a range of services, spanning primary, acute, community and mental health. The move towards accountable care organisations has been supported by the King’s Fund. The King’s Fund reports are available at: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2017/12/nhs-england-should-work-local-leaders-and-clinicians-explain-accountable-care https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/making-sense-accountable-care These articles highlight the positive impact and potential more integrated and accountable care has for England.

Care Homes: Minimum Wage

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding from the public purse has been set aside to support care providers in funding the (a) historical capital costs and (b) ongoing revenue costs of complying with the tribunal ruling on sleep-in payments and the national minimum wage.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government recognises the pressure that has been placed on the sleep-in sector by historic liabilities for back pay and is exploring options to minimise any impact on the social care sector. It is crucially important that we ensure stability within the social care sector; not just for vulnerable service users, but also for the many thousands of low paid workers within the sector. At the Spring Budget 2017 we provided an additional £2 billion to councils for social care. The ongoing pressure arising from enforcement of National Minimum Wage for sleep-in shifts was one of the costs the Government took account of in deciding to provide this sum of additional funding.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding was allocated to each clinical commissioning group area in London per head of population in 2017-18; what funding is proposed to be so allocated in 2018-19; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England publishes allocations for each clinical commissioning group (CCG) on its website. Per capita allocations for core CCG services for London CCGs in 2017-18 are listed on page 12, column 19 of the document that can be found here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ccg-allocations.pdf It should be noted that the figures for 2017/18 do not include any adjustments that may have been agreed since the time of publication. Revised allocations for core CCG services for 2018-19 were published in February 2018, and are accessible via the link below. Per capita allocations for London CCGs can be found on page 3, column 11. https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Revised-CCG-allocations-2018-19-1.pdf

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the correspondence between his Department,  Public Health England and NHS England on the type of vaccine that GPs have been advised to order for winter 2018-19.

Steve Brine: NHS England issued advice to general practitioners (GPs) and community pharmacists on 5 February 2018 on which influenza vaccines should be ordered for the adult seasonal flu programme (eligible individuals aged 18 years and over) in 2018/19. This advice was sent to ensure that GPs and community pharmacists order the most clinically effective vaccines for the coming season. A copy of the letter is attached.



PQ128225 attached document
(PDF Document, 333.76 KB)

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of people who have contracted flu in winter 2017-18 after receiving the trivalent vaccine instead of the quadrivalent vaccine.

Steve Brine: There has been no study undertaken on the estimate of the number of people who have contracted flu in winter 2017-18 after receiving the trivalent vaccine instead of the quadrivalent vaccine.

Respiratory System: Medical Treatments

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out (a) how many and (b) which hospitals in England have provided extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment, in each year since 2010.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contingency plans are in place if all nationally designated extra corporeal membrane oxygenation beds are in use.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England has contracting arrangements with five NHS trusts which have provided adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatment in England in each year since 2013. These are:- Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust;- Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust;- Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust;- University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust; and- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. NHS England also has contracting arrangements with five NHS trusts which have provided paediatric ECMO treatment in England in each year since 2013. These are outlined below:- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust;- Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust;- Great Ormond Street Hospital Foundation Trust;- Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust; and- Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust. Data prior to 2013 is not held centrally. Published standard operating procedure on the NHS England website sets out the actions that NHS England and NHS trusts take to manage surges in demand for ECMO services. This is available via the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/ccs/

Department of Health and Social Care: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department’s non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) have provided the attached information. NDPBs are able to procure staff from the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Non-Medical Non Clinical framework for permanent and temporary workers and the CCS Contingent Labour One framework for temporary workers. The two frameworks are not mandated for NDPBs to use, and are able to use alternative routes to procure staff.



PQ128229 attached document
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Eating Disorders: Brighton

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of eating disorder services for children and young people in Brighton and Hove.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There are 70 extended or newly established community eating disorders services being developed across the country and recruitment to get the teams up to full capacity is well under way. This means at least 3,350 children and young people a year will receive swift, effective eating disorder treatment in the community — for many this will mean they will be treated earlier and no longer need to go into hospital. Further information is available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/2017/09/nhs-england-comments-on-ucl-and-national-childrens-bureau-report-on-young-peoples-depression/In Sussex, all seven clinical commissioning groups have commissioned a national eating disorder charity (BEAT) to raise awareness and training for professionals and to develop a sustainable parent/carer support network. A Family Eating Disorder Service has also been collaboratively commissioned which complies with the National Access and Waiting Time Standards for children’s eating disorder services.

Doctors: Vacancies

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the inclusion of doctors on the shortage occupation list; and what recent discussions officials of his Department have had with officials of other Departments on that same subject.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is committed to ensuring the National Health Service has access to the right number of doctors and other healthcare professionals required to deliver safe, high quality, efficient care to patients. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of subjects including workforce supply in the NHS and officials continue to monitor and analyse overall staffing levels across the NHS and adult social care, and work across Government at all levels to ensure there will continue to be sufficient staff to deliver the high quality services on which patients rely.

Eating Disorders

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122582, on eating disorders, when he plans to publish (a) his Department’s, (b) NHS England’s and (c) NHS Improvement’s response to the recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman's report.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government takes seriously the report of the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman (PHSO) ‘Ignoring the alarms: how NHS eating disorder services are failing patients’. Following on from the publication of the Ombudsman’s report, the Department is working with partner organisations and arm’s length bodies, including NHS England, and NHS Improvement to consider how the recommendations can be taken into account as part of the planned improvements to mental health and eating disorder services. NHS England is leading on the response to the PHSO report and is currently considering the recommendations set out within it. It will be responding fully in due course to both the PHSO and the family of the patient concerned. NHS England is currently developing a pathway for adults with eating disorders and is working with healthcare professionals to improve understanding of eating disorders – the case investigated by the Ombudsman’s report will be considered as part of this.

Pregnancy Tests

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has (a) conducted and (b) is aware of any research into whether women and children in any (i) post code and (ii) county area were disproportionately affected by hormone pregnancy testing.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has not conducted research into whether women and children in any post code or county area were disproportionately affected by hormone pregnancy testing, nor is it aware of published scientific research on this topic. Hormone Pregnancy Tests were available from 1958-1978. The Commission on Human Medicines Expert Working Group on Hormone Pregnancy Tests reviewed all the available evidence on the possible association between exposure in pregnancy to hormone pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes in pregnancy. The Group concluded that, taking all aspects into consideration, the available evidence did not support a causal association between the use of hormone pregnancy tests during early pregnancy and birth defects or miscarriage. The Government’s priority, as always, is the safety of patients. The Expert Working Group made a number of forward-looking recommendations to further strengthen the scientific evidence which supports safety monitoring of medicines in pregnancy and current focus is on implementing these recommendations.

Postnatal Care: Mental Illness

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the incidence of mental health problems identified during the postnatal period; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Up to 20% of women are affected by mental illness during pregnancy or within the first year after giving birth. This covers a wide range of conditions. This Government is committed to improving perinatal mental health services for women during pregnancy and in the first postnatal year, so that women are able to access the right care at the right time and close to home. The Department is investing £365 million from 2015/16 to 2020/21 in perinatal mental health services, and NHS England is leading a transformation programme to ensure that by 2020/21 at least 30,000 more women each year are able to access evidence-based specialist mental health care during the perinatal period. This includes access to psychological therapies and specialist community or inpatient care.

Orkambi

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect on patients with cystic fibrosis of making Orkambi available on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is responsible for making decisions on the clinical and cost effectiveness of treatments. These can be very difficult decisions, and are made on the basis of very careful consideration of the evidence and public consultation. After considering the feedback from its consultation, NICE issued guidance in July 2016 which did not recommend Orkambi to treat cystic fibrosis. The decision was based on the evidence and price proposal provided by Vertex at the time of the appraisal. The guidance will be reviewed again in 2019. This review can be brought forward where there is new evidence that is likely to impact on the current recommendations, or if the company puts forward a proposal that demonstrates their drug is cost-effective.

Care Quality Commission

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to allow the Care Quality Commission individually to assess local authority and NHS providers where services have not been integrated.

Caroline Dinenage: Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 all providers of regulated activities, including the National Health Service and independent providers, have to register with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which, care should never fall. The assessment of adult social care providers and NHS providers is therefore already a part of the CQC’s functions. Some services provided by local authorities are regulated activities, for example, substance misuse services; these are also now subject to inspections and ratings by the CQC under new regulations enacted in October 2017. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has asked the CQC to undertake 20 targeted reviews of local authority areas under Section 48 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The purpose of the reviews is to understand the pressures and challenges faced by these systems and identify any areas for improvement. The reviews are focused on services provided at the interface of health and social care, including the interface between social care and general primary care, and acute and community health services. The CQC published an interim report of its reviews in November 2017; a final report will follow in summer 2018.

Mental Illness: LGBT People

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equality in diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems among LGBT+ youth; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is investing an additional £1 billion by 2020 to deliver a major expansion of mental health services. Access to mental health services is based on clinical need. It is important that the National Health Service accommodates the requirements of individuals who identify with particular protected characteristics through staff training, awareness raising and reasonable adjustments to services. To improve the offer to all children and young people, the Government published ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper’ on 4 December 2017. This sets out an ambitious set of proposals to transform support for children and young people’s mental health, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+).

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve cervical screening rates among black and minority ethnic women.

Steve Brine: The National Cervical Screening programme does not collect data on ethnicity. The commissioning and provision of screening, outlined in the National Service Specification for cervical screening requires providers to have systems in place to identify and support those persons who may be considered vulnerable/ hard to reach in order to address health inequalities and ensure equity of screening is offered as defined by the Equality Act 2010. The National Service Specification is available to view here:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/serv-spec-25.pdfPublic Health England is working with a range of stakeholders, including local authorities, NHS England and charities to improve uptake of cervical screening.

Cervical Cancer

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of cervical cancer among 25 to 29 year olds.

Steve Brine: Since 2008 girls aged 12 and 13 have been offered the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, to help protect them from the high risk strains of HPV which cause more than 70% of all cervical cancers. At the time the programme was rolled out a catch-up programme targeted females aged from 14 to less than 18 years. The oldest of these women are now 27 years old. England has one of the highest rates of HPV vaccine coverage in the world; 83% of eligible girls in the 2016-17 academic year completed the two-dose course, and 87% received one dose. The full impact of the HPV vaccination programme on cervical cancer is yet to be fully realised as vaccinated girls only started to enter the cervical screening programme in England in 2015. Public Health England is working with a range of stakeholders, including local authorities, NHS England and charities to improve uptake of cervical screening.

Breast Cancer

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions the Breast Cancer Clinical Reference Group has had with organisations in the devolved administrations on the sharing of best practice.

Steve Brine: The purpose of the NHS England Clinical Expert Group on Breast Cancer (CEG) is to share best practice. The CEG, as a broadly based group of breast cancer specialists, has defined what best practice should be, working in conjunction with other nationally recognised clinical breast cancer groups. Clinical advice is shared primarily through the Cancer Alliances.

Nurses: Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of nursing degree places offered at universities in the UK.

Stephen Barclay: In August 2017 the Government changed the funding system for pre-registration undergraduate nurse training. The funding reforms mean we have moved away from centrally imposed number controls and financial limitations, creating a sustainable model for universities and the healthcare workforce supply. In order to meet the growing need to increase the future supply of registered nurses, additional clinical placement funding was announced by the Department in August and October 2017. This will enable around 5,000 more nursing students to enter training each year from September 2018; a historic 25% increase.

Nurses: Training

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps the Government has taken financially to assist people who are seeking to train as a nurse.

Stephen Barclay: A number of provisions are available to support pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health profession students. These include child dependants allowance, travel and dual accommodation support and, in eligible cases, an exceptional hardship fund. Allowing students to access the student loans system also enables them to be up to 25% better off while they study than under the previous funding system.

Strokes: Medical Treatments

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when NICE plans to publish its evaluation report on Patent Foramen Ovale Closure.

Steve Brine: The evaluation report on Patent Foramen Ovale Closure has been prepared by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for NHS England. NHS England intends to publish this report on its website shortly.

Phil Morley

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 24 February 2017 to Question 63667 on Philip Morley, what the timetable is for the (a) conclusion and (b) publication of NHS Protect’s investigation.

Caroline Dinenage: The NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) took over counter fraud functions from NHS Protect on 1 November 2017. The NHSCFA investigation into this matter is ongoing and it is not possible to provide a timescale for its conclusion at this stage.

NHS: Managers

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions the Care Quality Commission has notified trust Chairs of non-compliance with the  Fit and Proper Persons Regulations, since those regulations came into force.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Quality Commission has advised that information is not held in the format requested and to obtain it would incur disproportionate cost.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Brexit

Hywel Williams: To ask the Attorney General, how much his Department plans to spend on projects relating to the UK leaving the EU in the next five years; and if he will list the projects to which that funding has been assigned.

Robert Buckland: Holding answer received on 21 February 2018



Given the role of the Attorney General’s Department, it does not lead on specific projects related to the UK leaving the EU and therefore has not incurred any additional expenditure. None of the Law Officers’ Departments has received direct funding therefore for work relating to the UK leaving the EU. Members of staff across the Law Officers’ Departments provide advice and analysis on different issues as required, and different Government departments bid for funding from HMT to pay for their resource needs, including the services of the Government Legal Department (GLD).

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the EU on UK Members of the European Parliament remaining members of that Parliament during any transition period after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: The Secretary of State regularly meets with his counterparts in European Member States and the European Parliament. As the Prime Minister set out in her Florence Speech, the United Kingdom will cease to be a member of the European Union on the 29th March 2019 and we will no longer have Members of the European Parliament.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the EU on retaining non-UK EU doctors after the UK has left the EU.

Mr Robin Walker: We deeply value the contribution of all 150,000 EU citizens working in our health and care sector, they are vital to ensuring the effective delivery of services. Safeguarding the rights of EU citizens who are currently living in the UK, and ensuring reciprocal protections for UK nationals living in the EU was our first priority for negotiations.It is a commitment we have delivered. The agreement reached in December will secure the status rights of EU nationals working in our health and care system, including doctors, meaning they will be able to stay and enjoy broadly the same rights and benefits as they do now.

McKinsey and Company

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2017 to Question 119278, on Department for Exiting the European Union: Procurement, what consultancy services have been provided by McKinsey and Company to his Department.

Mr Steve Baker: McKinsey assisted DExEU in coordinating domestic policy and delivery planning arising from the UK’s exit from the EU. A redacted version of the contract will be available on Contracts Finder in due course. McKinsey also provided support to the Department on its organisational design and assurance on a pro bono basis in 2016.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons his Department closed the E-Forum for Special Educational Needs Coordinators on 18 November 2017; and if he will take steps to re-open that forum as a matter of priority.

Nadhim Zahawi: The National Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCO) forum is a valuable resource and the department continues to host the IT platform that supports it. We are aware that some members are experiencing some issues in accessing the forum following a wider migration of business applications and services. We are working hard to resolve these problems. We are committed to working closely with the Chair of the forum to secure the future of the SENCO forum and ensure it is accessible to as many users as possible.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether there are plans for the PHSE national curriculum to include components to raise awareness of the problem of eating disorders.

Nick Gibb: The Children and Social Work Act 2017 provides a power for the Secretary of State for Education to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE), or elements therein, mandatory in all schools. The Government also made a manifesto commitment that all pupils should learn about mental wellbeing and the mental health risks of the internet. The Department is conducting a thorough engagement process, including a call for evidence, on the status and content of PSHE, as well as the new subjects of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education. We will use the findings to finalise draft regulations and guidance, which will then be subject to consultation. Schools are already free to address eating disorders through PSHE, as well as in the wider curriculum. The Government funded the PSHE Association to provide guidance to schools on how to teach pupils about mental health. The guidance includes age-appropriate advice on teaching about eating disorders. The Government has also funded information for school staff. MindEd is a free online portal that includes specific information on eating disorders, which can be found at: https://www.minded.org.uk/.The Government is also consulting on the green paper 'Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Provision'. It includes proposals for new mental health support teams to provide more trained support for young people with mental health issues, and to improve access to specialist support where it is needed.

Children: Education

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of children missing from education in (a) England and (b) by local authority area; and what steps his Department is taking to improve the quality of data held on such children.

Nick Gibb: It is the responsibility of local authorities (LA) to make arrangements to establish, as far as possible, the identities of children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered as pupils at a school and who are not otherwise receiving suitable education. In September 2016, the Department amended the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, to include further duties on schools to improve the information they provide to LAs when a child is removed from their roll, to help LAs to carry out these duties. We have a commitment to review the impact of these amendments by September 2019. Further information can be found in the statutory guidance on Children Missing Education: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-missing-education.

Teachers: Qualifications

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many state school teachers in England do not have Qualified Teacher Status.

Nick Gibb: There are 28,000 (headcount) and 24,000 (full-time equivalent) teachers without Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and 475,900 (headcount) and 433,200 (full-time equivalent) with QTS in service in state funded schools in England, November 2016. The source for this information is the annual School Workforce Census.This information is publicly available in table 3a at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016.

Teachers: Training

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have applied to take PGCE courses in England in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: Data on the number of applicants to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is collected by theUniversities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), who administrate applications to ITT and publish data about applications and acceptances. Published applicant and application statistics from UCAS (including but not limited to those taking PGCEs) are available on the UCAS teacher training releases webpage: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-releases. Information on the total numbers starting undergraduate and postgraduate initial teacher training (including but not limited to those taking PGCEs) in each year since 2010 is published as part of the ITT Census statistics: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training. Information showing the number of undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled to study for PGCEs in Higher Education Institutions in each year since 2012/13 is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/11-01-2018/sfr247-higher-education-student-statistics/numbers.

Teachers: Training

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people were not accepted onto a teacher training programme in England in 2017-18 because they failed either or both professional skills tests.

Nick Gibb: There is no published data yet for 2017-18 on the professional skills tests for trainee teachers. The last published data released on the number of candidates taking and passing the tests was for 2015-16 and is available on the Standards and Testing Agency website at: http://sta.education.gov.uk/professional-skills-tests/skills-tests-statistics.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of students who (a) applied and (b) qualified for the Disabled Student Allowances in each year since 2011.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Student Loans Company (SLC) Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) application records are shown below. The data is shown by academic year and covers both new and continuing DSAs applications for full- and part-time students domiciled in England studying on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. YearIndividual applicationsQualified% of applications which qualified2011/1249,97842,95286%2012/1350,03344,99390%2013/1454,04949,64692%2014/1567,65157,61585%2015/1669,60858,71184%2016/17[1]68,94259,82187% The SLC internal application tracker data do not align with SLC statistical first release (SFR) data covering take up of DSAs as: not all DSAs students need to apply each year; and not all students who are eligible/qualified for DSAs subsequently draw down support. The SLC SFR data are available at http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx. [1] Applications are still being received, so these are not the final figures.

Universal Credit: Wolverhampton North East

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number children of universal credit recipients in Wolverhampton North East who (a) will and (b) will not qualify for free school meals.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education does not hold information on the specific qualifying benefit that determines free school meal eligibility for individual pupils. We do not hold future estimates broken down by benefit type or constituency.The department publishes information on free school meal eligibility in the statistical first release: ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’. This is published at national and local authority level, and the latest data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.Under our proposed criteria for free school meals under Universal Credit, we estimate that by 2022 around 50,000 more children in England will benefit from a free school meal compared to the previous benefits system.

Educational Institutions: Counselling

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary for Education, what plans his Department has to introduce a counselling service in all (a) schools and (b) colleges.

Nick Gibb: The Government recognises the value of school-based counselling but schools are best placed to make decisions on the most appropriate support to provide for their pupils, including school-based counselling. 61 per cent of schools and colleges already provide access to counselling services, including 84 per cent of secondary schools. To support more schools to do so the Government has published a blueprint for school counselling services. This provides practical, evidence-based advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling to all pupils. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.The Government is consulting on the green paper Transforming Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services. It includes proposals to introduce new Mental Health Support Teams to complement existing mental health provision, including school-based counselling.

Teachers: Training

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of tuition fee costs on teacher training applications.

Nick Gibb: The Government offers student loans for all tuition fee funded teacher training courses, which means that trainee teachers do not need to pay fees upfront. Trainee teachers can also apply for a maintenance loan to support their living costs. This ensures that teacher training is accessible to graduates from all backgrounds.To incentivise applications in the highest priority secondary subjects, including mathematics, the sciences and languages, we offer bursaries and scholarships of up to £28,000. In each of the last three academic years we have recruited more postgraduate secondary trainees than we did in 2012/13, when the current student finance arrangements were introduced.

Teachers: Recruitment

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment has he made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the recruitment of teachers in England.

Nick Gibb: We are working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) and the Home Office, to ensure we are aware of our teacher supply needs as we leave the EU and move to a new UK migration framework. We have also engaged as a Department with the Migration Advisory Committee in their current review of the role of European Economic Area workers in the UK domestic labour market.

Teachers: Resignations

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers have left the profession by (a) gender and (b) age in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The number of qualified teachers leaving the profession from state funded schools, by age group and gender, is shown in the attached table. The table shows numbers and rates of teachers leaving for the years 2011 (the first year for which such data is available) to 2016, the latest year for which data is available.



Table
(PDF Document, 382.25 KB)

Swimming: Primary Education

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the proportion of primary schools that provided the Government's recommended number of hours of swimming tuition in each of the last five years.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the proportion of primary schools in Haringey that provided the Government's recommended number of hours of swimming tuition in each of the last five years.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the proportion of primary schools in London that provided the Government's recommended number of hours of swimming tuition in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally.While swimming and water safety is compulsory in the national curriculum for PE at primary levels (key stages 1 and 2), the department does not set a recommended number of hours to swimming lessons in schools.As part of the government’s ‘Sporting Future’ strategy the department asked a group of representatives from across the swimming sector to submit an independent report setting out recommendations for improving curriculum swimming. Their report was published in July 2017 and can be found at: http://www.swimming.org/assets/Swim_England_Curriculum_Swimming_and_Water_Safety_Review_Group_Report_2017.pdf.The department has established an implementation group and is currently reviewing the recommendations in the report.

Further Education: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126486, on further education: loans, what discussions he or Ministers of his Department have had with the (a) Student Loans Company and (b) Education and Skills Funding Agency on that matter.

Anne Milton: I have regular meetings with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, including considering what further action may be necessary in respect of learners affected by the failure of these providers. I have asked the Student Loans Company to write to those learners to advise them of next steps.

Further Education: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126486 on further education: loans, how many learners do not have a new provider.

Anne Milton: Approximately half of the loan-funded learners affected by the contract terminations of John Frank Training Limited, Edudo Limited and Focus Training & Development Limited have transferred to other providers to continue their studies. 180 have not transferred. The Student Loans Company will be writing shortly to all those affected regarding next steps.

Further Education: Loans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126486 on further education: loans, what additional resources his Department has allocated to help learners find new providers.

Anne Milton: The department’s priority when a training provider is no longer delivering courses is to make sure any learners affected can continue with their studies with minimal disruption. The Education and Skills Funding Agency, working with the Student Loans Company, will seek to identify suitable alternative providers where learners can complete their studies. We are committed to offering, as far as is practicable, a solution for each learner. The resources available for this are kept under review.

Special Educational Needs: Speech and Language Disorders

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an impact assessment of its plans to discontinue funding for specialist speech, language and communication support.

Nadhim Zahawi: Specialist speech, language and communication support is not funded directly by the Department for Education. It is commissioned locally, for example by local authorities using their high needs funding budgets, and also via clinical commissioning groups. The department’s current one-year contract with I CAN, on behalf of The Communication Trust (TCT) is due to end, as planned, at the end of March 2018. The contract was to develop sustainable resources and programmes to support the education workforce to develop their skills in supporting children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. We are in discussion with TCT about how best to ensure that all practitioners are able to make continued use of the wealth of materials, resources and training developed through this contract.

Apprentices

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122931 on Carillion, of the 1,200 apprentices affected, how many of those apprentices (a) have been found alternative employers and (b) are in receipt of jobseeker’s allowance.

Anne Milton: The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is proactively working with their established network of college partners to support all affected apprentices and other learners to complete their programmes. Additionally, they are utilising their existing employer contacts in the sector, in order to find and secure alternative employers for the apprentices to complete their frameworks or standards.CITB has emailed 40,000 external contacts, the vast majority of whom are employers, encouraging them to take on Carillion apprentices and to highlight the incentives CITB have put in place to secure employment for affected learners.The Education and Skills Funding Agency contacted all affected apprentices on 15 January 2018 to notify them of the situation and next steps. CITB confirmed that they contacted all learners on the 17 January 2018, via telephone, email and text message, to begin the transfer process, with a focus on minimising disruption to the learner and their learner journey.CITB has established a dedicated helpline for apprentices seeking support and has also delivered a series of workshops for learners, which have taken place in the localities of the 11 Carillion Training Centres. These workshops provided advice on next steps and offer 1 to 1 support, as required. The timings and locations of these events were communicated to learners through telephone calls, email and a comprehensive social media campaign.CITB has engaged directly with over 1,200 learners to date, has already secured new employment, with wages, for over 700 of the apprentices and is working progressively to find alternative employers for all those affected. At present, it has been agreed that all former Carillion apprentices will continue to be paid beyond 31 January, whilst alternative employers are being sought.

Pupils: Poverty

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Under-Secretary of State for Education of 19 January 2018, Official Report, column 1247, how local authorities can apply to become a pilot area for schemes to combat school holiday hunger.

Nadhim Zahawi: The activity on research and stakeholder engagement mentioned on 19 January is already underway and further details for our pre-piloting activity in Summer 2018 will be made available shortly. The aim of this initial work will be to inform the development of a pilot programme which will run in the 2019 Easter and summer holidays. Drawing on the learning from this research and engagement activity, government will set out our plans for the pilot programme later in 2018.

Children: Education

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what systems are in place for a Children Missing Education Officer to contact HM Revenue and Customs to request information on a family where there are concerns about a child not receiving a suitable education.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities (LA) have a duty to make arrangements to establish, as far as possible, the identities of children of compulsory school age in their area who are not registered pupils at a school and are not otherwise receiving suitable education. The Department issues statutory guidance to enable LAs to implement this legal duty.This guidance does not include a prescriptive or comprehensive list of all possible actions LAs could undertake when trying to locate a child, but does set out that in some cases it may be appropriate for LAs to make enquiries via other agencies.The guidance sets out that LAs could ‘follow local information sharing arrangements and where possible make enquiries via other local databases and agencies e.g. those of housing providers, school admissions, health services, police, refuge, Youth Justice Services, children’s social care, and HMRC’. The guidance advises LAs that it may be helpful to have local contacts with the HMRC, and other agencies, to assist them in tracing children missing education.

Universities: Staff

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many University Vice-Chancellors were members of their institution’s remuneration committees at the start of the (a)  2009-10 and (b) 2017-18 academic year.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The information requested is not held centrally. We recently consulted on behalf of the Office for Students on a new condition of registration to promote transparency on senior staff pay in higher education. We have also called on the sector to work through the Committee of University Chairs to develop their own fair remuneration code. A draft of this code was published for consultation in January 2018, and it requires that a vice-chancellor is not a member of the remuneration committee that sets their pay.

Ministry of Justice

Coroners

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department has issued to coroners on ensuring that bodies are released for burial as soon as possible as per religious tradition.

Dr Phillip Lee: Guidance for coroners is issued by the Chief Coroner. The needs of those faiths which require early burial can only be fully met if coroners provide an out of hours service. In his Annual Report for 2016-2017 the Chief Coroner recommended that coroner areas should provide an out of hours service but that they should normally do so on a ‘light touch’ basis. He went on to say however that “in some areas an out of hours service will require more, particularly in order to assist families who seek early burial for their loved ones”. In addition, the Ministry of Justice’s Guide to Coroner Services, which is available on gov.uk and is aimed in particular at bereaved families, says that “the coroner’s office will take account where possible of individuals’ views and expectations, including family and community preferences, traditions and religious requirements relating to mourning, post-mortem examinations and funerals”.

Reoffenders

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people serving (a) fixed-term (b) life and (c) indeterminate sentences who had been granted parole by the Parole Board were recalled in each year since 2004-05.

Rory Stewart: The breakdown of the number of people recalled following parole release by the Parole Board:  Sentence TypeYear (1)DeterminateIPPLife2010-34952011-601182012(2)-1231242013-2401742014-33220120154363212201619482212 (1) The figures provided are for offenders recalled in each full year from 2010 to 2016 whose first releases were directed by the Parole Board. Information datasets held by the department do not record the data in this format prior to 2010. The figures may include offenders recalled more than once across multiple years but not within years. The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. Recall reasons do not sum to the total number of recalls as more than one reason can be recorded against each recall (2) 2012 onwards saw a significant increase in the number of IPP recalls. This reflects a steady increase in IPP releases from 97 in 2010 to 576 in 2016; it follows that the more IPP releases we see, it is likely that larger numbers will be recalled to custody. Public protection is our priority and offenders on licence must comply with a strict set of conditions. If any offender breaches his licence conditions, he is liable to be recalled immediately to prison. As more offenders are reaching their minimum tariff dates, the number of first-time IPP releases continues to rise year on year, and there are consequently ever greater numbers of offenders on an IPP licence in the community. Correspondingly, and as is to be expected, the number of offenders on an IPP licence who are recalled to custody also continues to rise. No changes have been made to the IPP release test, and the independent Parole Board will continue to assess rigorously all tariff-expired IPP prisoners, in order as to determine they are safe to be released.

Reoffenders

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many offenders who were granted early release from prison by the Parole Board have re-offended in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: The number of offenders sentenced to indeterminate sentences and released by the Parole Board, once they had completed their tariff, and who have gone on to re-offend, can be found in the Quarterly Proven Re-Offending Statistics published by the MoJ . Table: Adult proven reoffending data, by custodial sentence length1 2013201420152016 Q1 3Indeterminate sentence for public protectionNumber of reoffenders53436818Number of offenders in cohort389376453137 Mandatory life prisonerNumber of reoffenders8482Number of offenders in cohort17211318551 Other life 2Number of reoffenders717112Number of offenders in cohort939010226 All Number of reoffenders68648722Number of offenders in cohort654579740214 Notes:1. Data regarding offenders released from indeterminate sentences up to September 2015 are extracted from the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD). As data were not of sufficient quality for these offenders prior to 2009, they have not been included in the figures. Data regarding offenders released from indeterminate sentences from October 2015 onwards are extracted from nDelius.2. 'Other life' category includes discretionary and automatic life sentences.3. Data from April 2016 are not yet published.   The Parole Board will release prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence after they have completed the tariff set by the Court, where it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for public protection for them to remain in prison. Offenders released by the Parole Board are supervised on licence by the National Probation Service

Ministry of Justice: Recruitment

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's recently advertised roles which are paid, except in circumstances where the successful applicant already receives a salary for full-time work paid for from public funds, what proportion of applications are from people employed in the public sector which (a) do not pay a salary to those already in receipt of a full-time salary from public funds, (b) are unpaid and (c) are paid irrespective of an applicant's existing public-sector pay.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's recently advertised roles which are paid, except in circumstances where the successful applicant already receives a salary for full-time work paid for from public funds, what assessment he has made of the effect of that policy on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

Dr Phillip Lee: With respect to Ministry of Justice public appointments (defined as posts regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments in the Order in Council 2017), we do not hold information on the salary arrangements of candidates who are employed in the public-sector. Where appropriate, arrangements are made to ensure that an appointee may not receive a double payment from the public purse if they are already in receipt of a full-time public-sector salary, in addition to their public appointment role.The Ministry of Justice has not conducted an assessment on the effects of this policy on those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 in respect of public appointments for which it is responsible.

Prisons: Visits

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what guidance his Department provides on the provision of nursing rooms in prisons for the use by breastfeeding mothers who attend domestic visits.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of prisons that provide nursing rooms for the use by breastfeeding mothers who attend domestic visits.

Rory Stewart: All prisons are expected to facilitate requests from nursing mothers to breastfeed their child during the course of a prison visit and must make every possible effort to accommodate these requests.There is currently no central policy which sets out detailed arrangements for breastfeeding mothers who are visiting prisons and decisions on such matters are made locally. However, Prison Service Instruction 16/2011 (Providing Visits and Services to Visitors) requires prisons to take account of, inter alia, the needs of pregnant women and nursing mothers when leaving and returning to a prison establishment during a visit.Information on the nursing facilities available at prisons across the prison estate is not centrally held and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Probate: Telephone Services

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what support his Department provides, in addition to the probate and inheritance tax helpline, for vulnerable people and people with learning difficulties who are engaging with the probate process.

Lucy Frazer: HMCTS Probate provides additional support to all customers, including vulnerable people and people with learning difficulties who are engaging in the Probate Process by way of advice on completing the application by experienced staff. Staff will provide guidance through published information on all aspects of the process that the applicant will have to go through. They will support customers attending Probate Offices and will address concerns raised by telephone or by email. It is not the role of HMCTS staff to provide legal advice.

Prisoners' Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if the Government will amend the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme classification for children's visits to parents in male prisons to make them consistent with guidelines for visits to parents in women's prisons.

Rory Stewart: We recognise the difficulties for families in maintaining contact when a parent is in prison, as well as the importance of avoiding, wherever possible, any detrimental impact on children. All convicted prisoners are statutorily entitled to the same minimum number of social visits, that is two visits in every 28-day period. Some prisons also run family days where children of prisoners can spend time with their parent. We are currently reviewing the Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) scheme to ensure it encourages positive and responsible behaviour by prisoners whilst in custody and helps them to prepare themselves for life after prison. We will ensure that IEP is not used as a determining factor for access to family days for any prisoner, regardless of their gender.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Owner Occupation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons for the decline in the level of home ownership among people under 45 years old since 2010.

Dominic Raab: Under the last Labour government, home ownership started falling from a peak of 63.9 per cent in 2003-04 for all homeowners between the ages of 16-44 to a low of 53.8 per cent in 2009-10.The Government have put in place a wide ranging package of measures to improve homeownership. While overall homeownership rates have remained stable since 2013, they have declined for people under 45 since 2003. The best way to help young people to own their own home is to build more homes, and that is precisely what this Government is doing.Already, over 1.1 million additional homes have been delivered in England since 2010, including over 217,000 in 2017 alone. Since 2010, over 357,000 affordable homes have been delivered, as well as the 443,000 households that have been helped into home ownership through Government schemes including Help to Buy and Right to Buy.More still needs to be done to get more houses built. We will be working on this through the implementation of our Housing White Paper and the further measures we introduced in the Autumn Budget 2017. This includes reforms to Stamp Duty, which are expected to help 95 per cent of first-time buyers.

Planning Permission

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions he has been asked to confirm a local planning authority's decision to revoke planning permission under Section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; and on how many such occasions he (a) confirmed and (b) overturned that decision in each year since 2016.

Dominic Raab: The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 only requires the Secretary of State to confirm an order revoking planning permission made by a local authority under Section 97 of the Act where it is opposed by the person on whom it is served. According to available records, the Secretary of State has been asked to confirm 25 revocation orders.The Secretary of State has not confirmed or overturned any revocation orders since 2016.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increase in the price of construction materials since 2010 on (a) house building and (b) the cost per unit of Government spending on housing.

Dominic Raab: The Office for National Statistics estimates that just over 50 per cent of the cost of house building comes from the cost of materials. The cost of construction materials for house building rose 15.3 per cent between 2010 and 2017, the equivalent of 1.8 per cent annual inflation. Over the same period, the Construction Output Price Index for New Housing rose by 17.8 per cent, the equivalent of 2.1 per cent annual inflation.Annual net additional dwellings in England increased from 137,390 units in 2010/11 to 217,350 units in 2016/17, and our ambitious end-to-end reforms announced at Autumn Budget and in the Housing White Paper put us on track to transform the market to support delivery of an average of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

Housing: Fire Prevention

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether building regulations relating to the internal and external spread of fire require balconies to be provided with fire protection or resistance.

Dominic Raab: Yes. Requirement B3 – Internal Fire Spread (structure) - of the Building Regulations 2010 requires that buildings should be constructed so that their stability will be maintained for a reasonable period. Guidance on this requirement is given in section 7 of Approved Document B, elements of structure, such as floors, should be provided with an appropriate degree of fire resistance.Requirement B4 – External fire spread – requires that the external walls of buildings should resist the spread of fire over the walls.

Neighbourhood Development Plans

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to reduce the time it takes to complete a new Neighbourhood Plan.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Statutory neighbourhood planning time periods were introduced in October 2016 to speed up the neighbourhood planning process. The 2017 Neighbourhood Planning Act ensures that plans local people have created, come into force following a successful referendum. The starting point for determining planning applications up to eight weeks earlier.These reforms also make it quicker and easier for communities to update their plans. The Government’s new £23 million support programme (2018-2022) will provide the resources and expertise that communities may need to plan for the future of their areas. Support includes grants for communities and professional planning advice on issues like housing and design.

Neighbourhood Development Plans

James Cartlidge: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the average time it takes to complete a new Neighbourhood Plan.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The time taken to produce a neighbourhood plan will depend on its complexity and the resources available within a community. We do not formally monitor the production of neighbourhood plans. We have introduced reforms since October 2016 to speed up the stages of neighbourhood plan-making.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 October 2017 to Question 9131, what steps his Department takes to ensure that local authorities meet their responsibility to assess all local housing needs, including Traveller sites, through their local plan.

Dominic Raab: Under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, the Government asks local planning authorities to assess their full housing needs for all types of housing, including travellers’ sites, and identify land to meet that need through their local plan.The Planning Policy for Traveller Sites states that if a local planning authority cannot demonstrate an up–to-date 5 year supply of deliverable sites, this should be a significant material consideration in any subsequent planning decision when considering applications for the grant of temporary planning permission.The NPPF clarifies that local plans will be examined by an independent inspector whose role is to assess whether the plan has been prepared in accordance with the Duty to Cooperate, legal and procedural requirements. The independent inspector also assesses whether it is sound, which includes whether it is consistent with national policy, including the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites.

High Rise Flats: Liverpool Walton

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the safety of high rise tower blocks in Liverpool Walton constituency.

Dominic Raab: The Building Safety Programme has been working with local authorities and building owners across England to identify properties that might be at risk. For all of those high-rise buildings that have been confirmed as having aluminium composite material cladding that does not meet the limited combustibility requirements set out in current building regulations guidance, the relevant fire and rescue service has been notified. We have worked with local authorities, housing associations, fire and rescue services and building owners to ensure that immediate steps are taken to make buildings safe.

Housing: Travellers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to encourage registered social landlords to apply for the Affordable Homes Grant to build new sites for Travellers.

Dominic Raab: The Department published an addendum to the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21 prospectus and supplementary information, which set out that funding is now available for new build traveller pitches within the Programme.Local authorities and housing associations are invited to submit their bids which will be assessed based on the criteria set out in these documents.The addendum to the prospectus and supplementary information are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/shared-ownership-and-affordable-homes-programme-2016-to-2021-guidance

Travellers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions Minsters of his Department have had with the Equality and Human Rights Commission on the effect of the revised definition of Traveller in PPTS 2015 in relation to local planning authorities’ policy provision.

Dominic Raab: We have no record of any discussions between Ministers in this Department and the Equality and Human Rights Commission regarding the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites published in 2015.

Planning Authorities

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce penalties for local planning authorities that fail to introduce a five-year land supply.

Dominic Raab: In order to build the homes this country needs it is vital that local authorities produce a plan, in consultation with their local communities, for the homes that are needed in their area.The National Planning Policy Framework introduced the presumption in favour of sustainable development, which applies where a local authority cannot demonstrate a five year land supply. This has been effective in bringing forward more land for housing but has been a blunt tool.The Housing White Paper included proposals to continue this policy while offering more certainty to those authorities who are identifying enough land for housing. Subject to consultation, this will be taken forward through the revised National Planning Policy Framework, which will be published for consultation before Easter.

Social Rented Housing: Tenants' Rights

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of statutory rights of occupiers of social housing to succeed to a tenancy on the death of the previous sole or joint tenant.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Housing and Planning Act 2016 includes changes to the rules on succession that deliver a consistent approach across all local authority tenancies and ensure that common law partners are put on an equal footing with married couples and civil partners.When in force, all spouses and partners will have a statutory right to succeed to a lifetime tenancy. Local authorities will be able to grant additional succession rights, and where they do so the tenant will receive a five year fixed term tenancy.I believe that these changes strike the right balance between protection for tenants and their families, and flexibility for local authority landlords.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125090 on Travellers: Caravan Sites, how many local planning authorities development plan documents were found to be consistent with planning policy for Traveller Sites.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125090, how many local planning authorities have had their development plan documents assessed and found to be inconsistent with planning policy for Traveller sites.

Dominic Raab: The Department does not collate this information centrally.

Building Regulations: Disability

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government plans to respond to the ninth report of the Women and Equalities Committee's report, Building for Equality: Disability and the Built Environment of Session 2016-17, HC 631, published on 25 April 2017.

Dominic Raab: The Government expects to publish its response shortly.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2018 to Question 125090, what training planning inspectors tasked with examining development plan documents receive with regard to the assessment of the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers.

Dominic Raab: Advice to Inspectors on examining assessments of gypsy and traveller accommodation needs within development plan documents is provided in the Inspector Training Manual and in Inspector training sessions.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Voting Rights

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to mark the centenary of women getting the right to vote in 1918.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government Equalities Office is coordinating the Government’s work on marking the centenary. As part of this the Department is working with the Greater London Authority to deliver a statue of leading suffragist Dame Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square to be unveiled later this spring.We are encouraging existing projects to mark the centenary, and have launched a new nationwide schools-focused project to celebrate inspirational women from the First World War, including suffrage campaigners. We are encouraging communities to mark the centenary locally by raising awareness of the funding available to support local events. More broadly we have been working with the local government sector to understand how we break down barriers preventing women engaging in local politics.

Parking: Private Sector

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what legislation regulates the operation of private car parks.

Rishi Sunak: The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 banned the clamping of vehicles by private parking companies and introduced the principle of vehicle keeper liability. Currently, the private parking industry operates under a system of self-regulation.Sir Greg Knight has introduced a Private Members’ Bill that seeks to create an independent code of practice for private parking companies. The Government fully supports Sir Greg’s Bill, which will seek to get the fairest deal for motorists and will help tackle rogue private parking operators.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121912, if she will publish the template grant agreement that is to be the basis for the agreements for the local authority asylum support liaison officers between the Government and successful applicant local authorities.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to ensuring that the transition from government-supported accommodation into mainstream services is as smooth as possible for all those granted refugee status.My Department will be awarding £1.75 million from the Controlling Migration Fund in 2018/19 to successful English local authorities who applied to trial new ways of supporting new refugees into housing, employment and English language learning.We have no current plans to publish the template grant agreement letter, although individual local authorities may choose to do so once they have been notified of the outcome of their application.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the consultation to review the effectiveness of current enforcement against unauthorised developments and encampments; and if he will make a statement.

Dominic Raab: We are working closely with the Home Office and Ministry of Justice in finalising the consultation, which will be published shortly.

Sleeping Rough

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the merits of combining data on rough sleepers from official night counts with estimates and information from local agencies to improve data accuracy.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The official rough sleeping statistics published by my Department are collected with the assistance of Homeless Link who provide guidance to local authorities and independently validate the data that is provided.In 2017 83 per cent of local authorities based their figures on estimates and in order to provide the number of rough sleepers, they consulted at least one local agency such as outreach workers, the police, the voluntary sector and faith groups who have regular contact with rough sleepers on the street and help with gathering intelligence on the level of rough sleeping in the local authority

Local Government: Dorset

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of the proposed future Dorset local government review.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of the Future Dorset Proposal.

Rishi Sunak: The assessment that the Secretary of State made on 7 November 2017, when the he announced that he was 'minded-to' implement the locally-led proposal for improving local government in Dorset, was that this proposal if implemented is likely to improve local government across the area.I am now assessing the proposal afresh, carefully considering all of the representations I have received, and I intend to announce my final decision shortly with the aim of achieving the best result for the people of Dorset.

Local Government

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the average cost to the public purse of local authority mergers in the last 12 months.

Rishi Sunak: The three proposals for merging district councils, which the Department has been considering over the last 12 months, have been assessed as delivering annual savings ranging from £0.8 to £3.1 million with pay back periods for covering one off transition costs from 1 to 3 years.

Local Government

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy that local referenda take place in advance of local authority mergers.

Rishi Sunak: Our policy is to consider against the criteria the Secretary of State announced on 7 November 2017, any proposal for merging district councils when requested. It is for the councils making such a proposal to decide how to demonstrate the level of local support for it.

Owner Occupation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2018 to Question 127028, on owner occupation, whether his Department (a) holds or (b) is able to place in the Library the information requested.

Dominic Raab: English Housing Survey data is publicly available and can be downloaded from the UK Data Service: http://discover.ukdataservice.ac.uk/series/?sn=200010

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January to Question 124261, and with reference to paragraph 12.6 and Diagram 40 of Approved Document B, whether materials that are not of limited combustibility are permitted on the external wall surface of a building with a storey of 18 metres or more above ground level.

Dominic Raab: Guidance in paragraph 12.6 of Approved Document B, which references diagram 40, states that the external surface of a wall should meet Class 0 (British Class) or class B – s3, d2 (European class) or better. This is a different requirement from that in paragraph 12.7 which refers to insulation products, filler materials etc being of limited combustibility for buildings over 18 metres. External wall construction must meet both of these requirements, unless they have met the performance criteria set out in BRE 135 using full scale test data from a BS 8414 test.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January to Question 124261, and with reference to paragraph 12.6 and Diagram 40 of Approved Document B, whether (a) class 0 (national class) and (b) class B-s3, d2 must be composed only of materials that are of limited combustibility.

Dominic Raab: Paragraph 12.6 of Approved Document B, which references diagram 40, refers to Class 0 (national class) and class B-s3, d2 (European class). These are different classes to those referenced in table A7 (Appendix A) as required by paragraph 12.7 for insulation products, filler materials etc to be of limited combustibility for buildings over 18 metres.

Social Services: Sheffield

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he will make available additional funding for Sheffield children's services to tackle that local authority's overspend in 2017-2018.

Rishi Sunak: Local authorities may incur more expenditure than they have budgeted for, which is why they are required to maintain a level of unallocated reserve commensurate with sound financial risk management. However, recognising the pressures on local services and impact of inflation, the Local Government Finance Settlement provided all councils with the ability to increase their council tax by an additional one per cent, without a local referendum. This strikes the right balance between allowing local authorities to make tough decisions to address service pressures, and protecting council tax-payers from excessive bill rises.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Food Banks

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he plans to visit a food bank in March.

David Mundell: I currently have no plans to visit a food bank in my capacity as Secretary of State for Scotland in March 2018.

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentres: Location

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place in the House of Commons Library a lookup file of every (a) postcode and (b) postcode sector in the UK to its nearest JobCentre Plus office.

Alok Sharma: There are currently no plans to put this information in the House of Commons Library as the information is in the public domain. A search facility is available on gov.uk which enables the public to find the nearest Jobcentre Plus office for the specific post code entered in to the search tool.

Universal Credit: Disability

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of changes in financial support for disabled people under universal credit on living standards of that group.

Alok Sharma: The core design of Universal Credit for claimants with health conditions and disabilities has remained as intended since its introduction in the Welfare Reform Act 2012, and the impacts were analysed then. DWP continue to evaluate the policy as it is delivered. The Universal Credit Evaluation is a comprehensive and multi-dimensional programme of analysis designed to assess economic, social and behavioural impacts of the Universal Credit experience. Research and analysis is conducted to provide continuous tracking and inform the evaluation and the expansion of Universal Credit, focusing specifically on the effects of Universal Credit on all claimants’ behaviours and outcomes. We have always said that there will be transitional protection for those with existing premiums who move over to Universal Credit as part of the managed migration process, whose overall Universal Credit entitlement would be less than under the old system, provided that their circumstances remain the same. Claimants who ‘naturally’ move to Universal Credit will do so because they have had a change of circumstances. In such cases claimants will continue to have their new welfare support entitlement calculated based on the rules of their new benefit.

Universal Credit

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the amount of savings that the introduction and roll-out of universal credit will generate for the public purse; and what the evidential basis is for that estimate.

Alok Sharma: The forecasted exchequer savings from the introduction of Universal Credit are provided in the table below (minus figure indicates a saving):  £ billion unless otherwise stated 2017-182018-192019-202020-212021-222022-23Net effect on welfare spending-0.1-0.2-0.6-0.9-0.8-1.0 This forecast is produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility who set out their methodology in the Welfare Trends Report published in January 2018. The full report and accompanying data is available here: http://obr.uk/wtr/welfare-trends-report-january-2018/ In addition we expect the rollout of Universal Credit to generate economic benefits, consistent with the methodology of the Treasury Green Book, of up to £7 bn per annum, as set out in the Universal Credit Business Case, which will come from increased employment. Some of these economic benefits will result in exchequer savings, but these are not included in the table above.

Department for Work and Pensions: Contracts

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid from the public purse in sustainment outcome payments to (a) Capita, (b) Interserve, (c) Ingeus UK Ltd, (d) Careers Development Group and (e) G4S in each year from 2010 to date.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid from the public purse in outcome fees to (a) Capita, (b) Interserve, (c) Ingeus UK Ltd, (d) Careers Development Group and (e) G4S in each year from 2010 to date.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been paid from the public purse for welfare to work services to (a) Capita, (b) Ingeus UK Ltd, (c) Careers Development Group and (d) G4S in each year from 2010 to date.

Kit Malthouse: Due to its commercial sensitivity, the information cannot be provided.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people and organisations which offer advice on changes to the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme are appropriately qualified and regulated.

Kit Malthouse: All current recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest will be contacted and given information about the changes. They will not be given financial advice but will be informed that such advice is available should they require it. Organisations offering financial advice are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many support for mortgage interest claimants have (a) Parkinson's disease and (b) multiple sclerosis.

Kit Malthouse: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department’s estates proposals of 26 January 2017, what progress has been made on the proposal for a back-of-house acquisition in Glasgow.

Alok Sharma: DWP has acquired space at 1 Atlantic Quay, Glasgow, and has entered into an agreement to lease this with the landlord. This agreement to lease is subject to the satisfactory completion of certain design work, which is on track to be completed by June 2018. The site will house a new Jobcentre Plus Employability Suite, and four of our existing back office sites will be moved into this new Glasgow city centre office. DWP expects to take occupation as soon as practicable after the completion of the design work.

Jobcentres: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126490, what contingency arrangements have been put in place to deal with a similar situation after the closure of Parkhead and Easterhouse jobcentres.

Alok Sharma: In the exceptional event of our telephone network being disrupted again in Shettleston Jobcentre, we would invoke our revised business continuity plans and telephone calls would be redirected to Springburn Jobcentre.

Jobcentres: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the level of increased footfall at Shettleston Jobcentre resulting from the closure of Bridgeton, Parkhead and Easterhouse jobcentres.

Alok Sharma: The increase in footfall in Shettleston is 340%, and this is commensurate with the overall footfall at Bridgeton, Parkhead and Easterhouse prior to the merger with Shettleston Jobcentre. In line with our forecast for footfall in Shettleston, we have deployed sufficient resource for the number of customers using our services. The service delivery team ensures that waiting times are kept to a minimum, and the same service is delivered to customers who wish to make enquiries or do not have appointments.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of changing support for mortgage interest to a loan on the take-up of other housing benefits.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not anticipate any effect on take-up of other housing benefits as a result of this change. Claimants will be eligible for exactly the same level of financial support as they receive now. Loans will not be recovered until the property is sold and then only to the extent that there is sufficient equity available.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of people who participate in the Home Ownership for people with Long-term Disabilities scheme who will be affected by the replacement of support for mortgage interest with a loan.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold the data requested.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out the number of claimants of support for mortgage interest in each region of England and Wales in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.

Kit Malthouse: The table below provides forecasts of the caseload for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) in 2017/18 by region. RegionEstimated SMI caseload (000s)North East6North West16Yorkshire and Humberside9East Midlands8West Midlands11East10London12South East12South West8Wales7Scotland12  Total110 Notes:Figures have been rounded to the nearest 1,000 cases and may not sum due to rounding.DWP does not hold a single source of data on SMI claims to analyse. Analysis of regional SMI caseloads are based on DWP’s Quarterly Statistical Extract (QSE) data. QSE is a quarterly 5 per cent sample of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support (IS) and Pension Credit (PC) claimants. Quality assured data at regional level is not available for ESA or UC claimants receiving SMI. In the absence of data the regional breakdown of ESA claimants has been assumed to be the same as the JSA, IS and PC caseload. Less than 1% of SMI claimants are estimated to claim UC in 2017/18.Estimates use QSE data over four quarters up to May 2017 and are calibrated to the 2017/18 SMI caseload forecast published in the Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in receipt of support for mortgage interest had a property repossessed in each year since 2010.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold the data requested.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to publish the evaluation of the yellow card sanctions pilot in Scotland.

Alok Sharma: The finalisation of the evaluation has proved complex, and we are still in the process of agreeing the final draft. There is a standard 12 week clearance and formatting period from the time the final draft is agreed to publication. We will make the publication date available once it has been confirmed.

Independent Case Examiner

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of cases examined and cleared by the Independent Case Examiner between 2010-11 and 2017-18 and what steps she is taking to improve the performance of that service.

Kit Malthouse: Performance and trends in the number and type of cases cleared by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office are reviewed and reported in the Independent Case Examiner’s Annual Report which is published on gov.uk.

Mortgages: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in each parliamentary constituency in Scotland receive support for mortgage interest; and how many of those people also receive (a) employment support allowance, (b) personal independence payments and (c) jobseeker’s allowance.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold the data requested. The data needed to make robust estimates of the number of recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) at geographies smaller than Government Office Region is not available to Departmental analysts.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out (a) the number of complaints relating to the equalisation of the state pension age that her Department's independent case examiner is currently considering and (b) the number of cases that the independent case examiner has resolved since 2 October 2017.

Kit Malthouse: (a) Details of the number of complaints relating to the equalisation of state pension age, that are currently (as at 20th February 2018) being considered by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office are detailed below: 369 complaints undergoing checks to establish if they can be accepted for examination1,800 complaints awaiting investigation36 complaints being investigated (b) Since 2 October 2017, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office has issued 44 investigation reports into complaints about the equalisation of state pension age.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will set a maximum waiting time for responses to complaints regarding the equalisation of the state pension age received by the Independent Case Examiner.

Kit Malthouse: We will not set a maximum waiting time for responses to complaints regarding the equalisation of state pension age.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the average time taken for a reply to be issued to a complaint submitted to the Independent Case Examiner regarding the equalisation of the state pension age.

Kit Malthouse: The average time taken to respond to complaints about the equalisation of state pension age, from the point at which the investigation of the complaint commenced, is currently 9.75 weeks.

Labour Market: Disability

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Office for National Statistics on its decision to suspend the publication of statistics on the labour market status of disabled people.

Sarah Newton: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the production of statistics on employment of disabled people, published in Table A08 on the ONS website. ONS have stated that the most recent version includes estimates for April to June 2017, and “ONS has suspended publication of these estimates for subsequent time periods due to an apparent discontinuity between April to June 2017 and July to September 2017. ONS is investigating this issue and the dataset will be reinstated as soon as possible”. As a key stakeholder for labour market statistics, the Department for Work and Pensions maintains dialogue with ONS on the use of this data for national policy-making purposes. ONS has therefore regularly updated officials on their ongoing investigation.

Department for Work and Pensions: Unpaid Work

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of her Department have undertaken unpaid work periods in each financial year since 2010; and what the average length of an unpaid work period in her Department is.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of her Department based in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency have undertaken unpaid work periods in each financial year since 2010; and what the average length of those unpaid work periods was.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have undertaken unpaid work periods within her Department since 2010 and have not subsequently been offered a full-time work position.

Kit Malthouse: Below is a breakdown by financial year showing the number of unemployed people who have undertaken unpaid work experience in DWP since 2011 (these are not classed as employees). We do not hold data prior to 2011. Placements are usually expected to last between 4-6 weeks but can be less or more - with a maximum of 8 weeks. 2011-2012 = 8342012-2013 = 10772013-2014 = 40662014-2015 = 73562015-2016 = 74282016-2017 = 43442017-2018 (to end of Jan 2018) = 2671 Below is a breakdown by financial year showing the number of unemployed people In Kilmarnock who have undertaken an unpaid work experience in DWP since 2011 (these are not classed as employees) . We do not hold data prior to 2011. Placements are usually expected to last between 4-6 weeks but can be less or more - with a maximum of 8 weeks. 2011-2012 = 42012-2013 = 22013-2014 = 02014-2015 = 82015-2016 = 172016-2017 = 132017-2018 (to end of Jan 18) = 11 We do not hold data on the number of people who have subsequently secured employment with DWP following the work experience placement.

Attendance Allowance: Glasgow South West

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications have been made for Attendance Allowance by residents in Glasgow South West constituency in the last 12 months.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Attendance Allowance

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to encourage applications for Attendance Allowance; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: Information about Attendance Allowance is already widely available, including on Gov.uk. The Attendance Allowance Unit also promotes uptake of the benefit at ‘outreach’ events, where they answer questions, hand out leaflets and signpost claimants to relevant DWP benefits. DWP works closely with partner organisations, including those that represent or support older people with care needs, such as the NHS or Macmillan Nurses, who can help provide information and signpost their clients to benefits such as Attendance Allowance. The Attendance Allowance Outreach Team also attend events at drop in centres at Macmillan Cancer and Stroke Units to help advise potential claimants of the benefits they may be able to apply for.

Housing Benefit: Glasgow South West

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with disabilities in Glasgow South West constituency were affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Kit Malthouse: As at August 2017, there were 2,080 households in Glasgow South West constituency who had a deduction made from their Housing Benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy. Of these, there were 1,550 where the claimant or partner was receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). The Government has provided easements to allow an additional bedroom for couples and children who are unable to share a bedroom due to their disability, or where a non-resident overnight carer (or group of carers) is required for an adult, child or non-dependant adult.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Air Pollution: Standards

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government’s planned clean air strategy will include a commitment to reaching WHO limits for particulate matter.

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will include a target on reducing premature deaths from air pollution in its new clean air strategy.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to include a target to reduce premature deaths from air pollution in the new clean air strategy.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to include a commitment to reaching World Health Organisation limits for particulate matter in the new clean air strategy.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Members to the reply given to the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse, Jim Fitzpatrick, on 16 February 2018, PQ 126553.

Fracking: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment has been made of whether there has been any water contamination as a result of fracking in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: There has not yet been any high volume hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking’, at the site in Yorkshire, and none is permitted to take place in the Humber. The water environment around the Yorkshire site is being monitored which is required to be assessed in accordance with the environmental permit, before, during and after fracking. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy made a written statement on 25 January regarding progress on the consent for fracking in Yorkshire.

Environment Protection: Enforcement

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consultation is planned to engage businesses and other stakeholders on the development of proposals for a new environmental enforcement agency to ensure good governance after the UK leaves the EU.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Secretary of State has set out plans to consult shortly on a new, independent and statutory body to hold Government, and potentially public authorities, to account on environmental commitments once we have left the EU. We are also proposing to consult on the creation of a new policy statement on environmental principles to apply when we leave the EU.

Theft: Pets

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of introducing a new criminal offence of theft of a pet.

George Eustice: Theft of a pet is already a criminal offence under the Theft Act 1968. The maximum penalty is 7 years imprisonment. The Sentencing Council updated its guidelines in relation to sentencing for theft offences in February 2016. The guidelines take account of the emotional distress and therefore harm that theft of personal items such as a pet can have on the victim and accordingly recommends higher penalties for such offences.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Plastics

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much was spent from the public purse on the provision of plastic forks, knives, stirrers, spoons, cups and straws at the canteen in his Department's offices in Nobel House, Smith Square, London, in the last three years; and what the timetable is for such items to be phased out of use at that canteen.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra does not purchase any plastic forks, knives, stirrers, spoons, cups and straws.

Fisheries: Northern Ireland

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) quantum and (b) value of finfish (i) landed at (A) Portavogie, (B) Ardglass and (C) Kilkeel ports and (ii) produced through aquaculture in Northern Ireland between 2007 and 2017.

George Eustice: Landings of demersal and pelagic species into specified Northern Irish Ports by all vessels (UK and foreign) between 2007 and 2016PortYearQuantity (tonnes)Value (£)Ardglass20078,376£3,489,51020088,408£3,325,02720096,875£2,753,29020109,448£4,309,98120119,265£6,534,56320126,338£4,532,07720136,663£3,162,36420148,056£4,391,48920154,100£1,815,75520163,108£1,971,925Kilkeel2007909£1,257,16420081,006£1,361,6562009689£880,6232010901£1,169,5732011736£1,019,2432012699£860,4842013976£1,003,7622014741£1,203,6882015955£1,038,49120161,069£1,428,862Portavogie2007591£1,080,0252008635£1,266,3152009593£1,033,7932010457£897,5362011273£534,0502012162£283,0472013268£265,8932014215£194,1632015366£252,1972016392£341,676 Figures for 2017 are not currently available. Provisional UK wide fisheries statistics will be published on Friday 23rd February.  Quantum and Value of Finfish produced through aquaculture in Northern Ireland between 2007 and 2016YearQuantity (tonnes)Value (£m)2007830£2.12008584£1.520091120£3.320101155£4.620111060£3.92012945£4.12013896£4.320141117£5.120151136£4.320161069£4.1Figures for 2017 are not currently available.

Fish Farming

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to consult the aquaculture sector on the effect of the UK leaving the EU; and what plans his Department has to minimise the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the aquaculture sector.

George Eustice: Through a number of fora, we have actively engaged with, and will continue to listen to, industry representatives, trade organisations, processors, Non-Government Organisations and the public as the UK leaves the EU. Devolved Administrations will remain fully engaged in the process and we will work with them to deliver a deal that works for the whole of the UK.

Fisheries

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to support the under-10 metre fishing fleet in the Fisheries Bill.

George Eustice: We will use the opportunity afforded us by leaving the EU to develop our own world-leading fisheries management regime and are currently working closely with the industry and other stakeholders to understand their priorities for reform. The content of the Fisheries Bill will be announced in the usual manner in due course.

Fisheries: Sustainable Development

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on the allocation of fishing opportunities in UK waters to reflect the ability of boats to meet environmental, social and economic sustainability criteria.

George Eustice: The UK regularly reviews its annual allocation policy to ensure that fishing opportunities are allocated for the benefit of the whole of the UK, taking into account the needs of those within existing Producer Organisations (POs) and the needs of the under 10m fleet. The UK has long championed sustainable fisheries and we continue to place scientific-based management at the heart of policy. The UK’s coastal fishing communities are immensely valuable and supporting them, along with the inshore fleet, is a central tenet of our work.

Fly-tipping: Sentencing

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of sentences in deterring fly-tipping; and when the penalties for fly-tipping will next be reviewed.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is committed to tackling fly-tipping. The maximum penalty on prosecution for fly-tipping is imprisonment of up to five years or a potentially unlimited fine. Defra has worked with the Sentencing Council to strengthen guidelines for environmental offences in 2014. I am raising this with colleagues at the Ministry of Justice and to also ensure sentencing levels act as an effective deterrent.

Home Office

Vagrancy Act 1824

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last reviewed the provisions of the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to repeal the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Victoria Atkins: The Vagrancy Act 1824 provides the police with the power to arrest those begging or persistently begging in a public place. It is an operational matter for the police to determine when it is appropriate to make use of this power in line with their duties to keep the peace and to protect communities. The Government currently has no plans to repeal or make changes to the Act. The Government is committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and eliminating it altogether by 2027. We have established a Rough Sleeping and Homelessness Reduction Taskforce that will oversee the implementation of a cross-Government strategy to achieve this, and drive wider action to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. The Homelessness Reduction Act will come into force in April, which will significantly reform England’s homelessness safety net at a national and local level, ensuring that more people get the help they need earlier to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. We have also allocated over £1 billion through to 2020 to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. This includes £28 million to pilot a Housing First approach in three regions of England to support rough sleepers with the most complex needs and help them to end their homelessness. We also announced £20 million for schemes that will enable better access to new private rented sector tenancies or support in sustaining tenancies for those who are homeless, or are at risk of becoming homeless or rough sleeping.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 123998 on asylum: housing, how many proposals for additionally funded service provision have been received; what the total financial value of those proposals is; whether those proposals and funds were used for any purposes deemed appropriate by the provider; and whether they adhered to the stipulations outlined in the Written Statement of 8 December 2016, HCWS335 on asylum accommodation.

Caroline Nokes: Asylum Accommodation Providers have submitted proposals under the terms of the contract for additionally funded service provision in each of the 6 contract regions. The Home Office has assessed proposals and provided additional funding in 5 of the contract regions. The level of funding is commercially sensitive; however, as part of the Governments transparency agenda the Home Office publishes spend data with all providers on the GOV.UK website where the spend is over £25,000. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-transparency-data-november-2017

Home Office: Compass

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 123997 on Home Office: Compass, if she will publish information or a summary report of the analysis to identify trends, good practises and areas for improvement.

Caroline Nokes: The Home office monitors and assesses services to identify good practice and areas of improvement; and discusses this with its providers at the regular contract management meetings.

Home Office: Written Questions

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the information provided in the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 123995 on Compass was not provided in the same detail as the information provided in the Answer of 2 March 2016 to Question 28212.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office follows the Governments transparency agenda and publishes all spend with suppliers on the GOV.UK website where it exceeds £25,000 in a month. The deductions of Service Credits are considered to be commercially confidential and as such the Home Office does not publish this information and that is why the approach between 2016 and 2018 has changed.

British Nationals Abroad: Middle East

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with links to the UK who travelled to engage in the recent conflict in Syria and Iraq have been classified as not being a security concern.

Mr Ben Wallace: Over 850 UK-linked individuals of national security concern travelled to engage with the conflict in Syria and Iraq. We estimate that over 15 percent of those who travelled have been killed in fighting in the region and just under half have returned to the UK. Anybody who does return will be investigated by the police to determine if they have committed criminal offences or pose a risk to national security. Those who travelled to, or remained in Syria or Iraq from 2014 are more likely to be a current national security concern than those who travelled and returned before then. While it would not be appropriate to provide a breakdown of the investigation status of travellers or returners, a significant proportion of those individuals who have already returned fall into the latter category and have been assessed as posing little or no national security concern.

National Security

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many representatives from the British police attended the Security and Policing Event in each year since 2010; and what were their ranks and grades.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Home Office does not hold the requested data.

Syringes: Injuries

Mr Simon Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what records her Department holds on the number of incidents in each of the last five years in which a member of the public has been injured by a used needle.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office collects information on crimes in which a knife or sharp instrument was used. However, this is not broken down to the type of instrument used, nor does it provide information on whether a member of the public was injured.

Crime Prevention: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to deter people from committing minor offences in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Mr Nick Hurd: It is important that all crimes including minor crimes are reported to the police so that they can be investigated and, where appropriate, the offenders charged and prosecuted in the courts.It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to deploy policing resources to prevent, tackle, and respond to crimes being committed.

Retail Trade: Crimes of Violence

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce incidences of knife crime against shop workers.

Victoria Atkins: Tackling knife crime is a priority for the Government. Our work to tackle knife crime is centred on four key strands – working with the police on operations and enforcement, work on the legislative framework, work with retailers on responsible sales, and early intervention and prevention. All this work is designed to protect the public wherever they are and wherever they work. All acts of violence and abuse against retail staff are serious matters whenever and wherever they occur. All such incidents should be reported to the police and taken seriously, investigated and, where appropriate, the perpetrators taken through the courts and met with tough sentences.At the national level, we are working with the police and the retail sector to identify what more can be done to prevent and respond to violence and abuse against retail staff, as part of the work of the National Retail Crime Steering Group. The Steering Group is jointly chaired by the Home Office and the British Retail Consortium.

Slavery

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to encourage increased support for victims of modern slavery at the Commonwealth Summit in London in April 2018.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office is the department responsible for supporting victims of modern slavery in England and Wales.Tackling the crime of modern slavery and human trafficking is a priority for the Government, both domestically and internationally. The support and protection of victims is a key part of this agenda. The Prime Minister has championed the issue of tackling modern slavery at the G7, G20 and the United Nations General Assembly, where in 2017 she launched the Call to Action to End Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking that 43 countries have now endorsed. Tackling human trafficking and child exploitation will be discussed during the week of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The summit will provide a forum for continued dialogue and the sharing of best practice across Commonwealth states to tackle this global crime.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Home Department, how many non-EEA doctors have had visas declined in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The specific information you have requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office. Information on the total number of Tier 2 refusals can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017/list-of-tables#visas

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions (a) she or (b) Officials of her Department have had with (i) other Government departments and (ii) the Migration Advisory Committee on including doctors on the Shortage Occupation List; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Shortage Occupation List is based on advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee and is kept under regular review, with the most recent changes made to it last April, reflecting the latest advice and evidence from the Committee.The MAC has determined that a number of doctors, including consultants specialising in clinical radiology and emergency medicine, are in national shortage and already appear on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL). This ensures that applications for these posts receive the highest priority – and the highest number of points – when allocating a Tier 2 (General) place.

Firearms: Licensing

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure guidance on medical checks for firearms licensing is applied consistently.

Mr Nick Hurd: We are in discussions with the police, the relevant medical bodies, and representatives of shooting organisations about how greater consistency can be achieved across England and Wales.

Forced Marriage Unit

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many telephone calls received by the forced marriage unit were from (a) domestic and (b) international locations since 2016.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls the 24-hour female genital mutilation hotline has received since January 2016.

Victoria Atkins: In 2016 the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) helpline received approximately 3,500 calls, which translates to 1,428 cases. FMU records the focus country as where marriage is due to take place regardless of where the victim is at the time of first contact. In 2016, in 90% of cases the ceremony did or was due to take place overseas. In the rest of the cases received the risk was in the UK. The NSPCC run and fund a 24 hour national helpline for female genital mutilation. As the helpline is not funded by the Home Office we do not hold this data.

Female Genital Mutilation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which organisations applied for funding from her Department for community projects to tackle female genital mutilation since 2016; and which applications were (a) accepted and (b) rejected.

Victoria Atkins: Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a crime and it is child abuse. The Government is clear that we will not tolerate a practice that can cause extreme and lifelong suffering to women and girls. Through its £17 million Violence Against Women and Girls Transformation Fund the Home Office is providing funding for a number of projects working to tackle FGM, which include projects led by Havant Borough Council, West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner. In addition the Government has provided funding to Southall Black Sisters and the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Organisation through the Tampon Tax Fund, both of which carry out work to tackle FGM. The Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) Programme has provided funding for a number of community organisations working to change attitudes to tackle FGM and promote wider shared values. A full list of BSBT partners can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661395/BSBT-list-of-groups.pdf. In addition, the Department for Education has provided £2 million through the social care innovation programme for the National FGM Centre run by Barnardo’s and the Local Government Association, and last year announced a further £1.7 million to be made available to continue the development of this work. We do not routinely release information about unsuccessful applicants due to commercial sensitivity.

Victim Support Schemes: Finance

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding the Government allocated for the provision of (a) domestic abuse services, (b) female rape support centres, (c) independent domestic violence advisers and (d) independent sexual violence advisers since 2016; and how many (i) rape support centres, (ii) IDVAs and (iii) ISVAs were supported by that funding in each of those years.

Victoria Atkins: Over this spending review period, the Government is providing increased funding of £100m to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG.) Since 2016 the funding has supported:In 2015/16 85 and in 2016/17 86 rape support centres for female victims through annual funding of £6.4m.In 2016/17 the provision of 144 IDVAs, and 87 ISVAs through funding of £2.5m and £1.75m respectively.From 2017, the £17m VAWG Transformation Fund supporting 41 local projects with a focus on early intervention and prevention with a number of the projects supporting additional IDVA and ISVA provision.A £20m fund for accommodation-based services supporting more than 80 projects across England creating more than 2,200 bed spaces and supporting over 19,000 victims.National helplines as we recognise that these are best commissioned at a national level. This includes the National Stalking Helpline run by Suzy Lamplugh Trust; the National Domestic Violence Helpline run jointly by Women's Aid and Refuge; Galop, who offer help to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims; the Male Advice(and Enquiry)Line and the RESPECT helpline. Data published in November 2017 showed the number of IDVAs has increased to 897 full time equivalent, a rise of 10% since 2016 and the number of refuge bedspaces has increased from 3,467 in 2010 to 3,798 spaces in 2017.

Slavery

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding her Department provides to support support local and regional anti- modern slavery groups.

Victoria Atkins: The Government funds a range of organisations at a local, regional and national level to undertake activity against modern slavery. Building on the success of the 2014 ‘Slavery Happens Here’ campaign, the Home Office has carried out tailored communications activity through a number of civil society groups to raise awareness of modern slavery in high-risk communities in the UK and overseas, most recently in Nigeria. On 16 January 2017, the Home Secretary announced that £2.2m from the Child Trafficking Protection Fund had been awarded to seven organisations to protect vulnerable children in the UK and overseas who are at risk of trafficking. A number of the projects focus on supporting child victims of trafficking in discreet local and regional areas including Croydon, Bristol, West Yorkshire, Manchester and London. The projects cover a range of proposals including tailored support for child victims of trafficking from various cultures, developing skills and expertise in local areas, and a specialist accommodation pilot. We also fund The Salvation Army to deliver support services for victims of modern slavery throughout England and Wales via a range of local subcontracting partners. This specialist support includes accommodation, subsistence, counselling, access to mental, physical and dental health services, and signposting to legal support.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Voting Rights

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to mark the centenary of women getting the right to vote in 1918.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development plans to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage. This includes flying the suffrage flag at DFID offices. Officials are collaborating with counterparts at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Government Equalities Office on the preparations for an International Women’s Conference of MPs to be hosted at the House of Commons in November 2018. More widely, my department is working globally to enable more women around the world to exercise their right to vote and to stand as elected representatives.

Gaza: International Assistance

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which multilateral projects in the Gaza Strip her Department helps fund; and how much is disbursed from the public purse for each such project.

Alistair Burt: In Gaza, the UK has provided £1.9 million to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support approximately 1 million Gazans by providing clean water, rehabilitating sanitation facilities and promoting hygiene standards to stop the spread of disease. Additionally, the UK is a long-term supporter of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides basic services to 1.3 million people in Gaza. In 2017/18 we have so far provided around £50 million to UNRWA across the region. The European Union (EU) is currently supporting six development projects in Gaza through multilateral bodies including UNICEF and UNRWA, totalling over €58 million. The EU is also supporting a number of humanitarian projects in Gaza. The UK’s financing share of EU expenditure varies year on year but has been approximately 15%. The UK also provides core un-earmarked contributions to multilateral bodies such as UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross and is a shareholder in a number of major international financial institutions, such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank, which are working across the West Bank and Gaza.

HM Treasury

Children: Day Care

Rushanara Ali: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contingency plans his Department had made prior to the launch of the new childcare website in the event of problems with that website; and whether such plans were implemented when problems occurred.

Rushanara Ali: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has conducted an internal review of the reliability of the new childcare website.

Elizabeth Truss: HMRC continually reviews the performance of the childcare service and, working with their delivery partner National Savings and Investments, has made a range of improvements to the way the service works.Whilst the majority of parents use the service without problems, some parents have experienced difficulties. HMRC has arrangements in place to ensure that no parents miss out financially as a result of these issues. Where parents have missed out on Tax-Free Childcare payments, HMRC pay compensation to reimburse them for missed government top-ups. HMRC have also issued 30 hours free childcare codes manually to parents, where technical issues prevented them from getting their code through the digital childcare service.

Employee Ownership

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse of reducing the period for which employee participants must hold their shares within share incentives plans from five years to three years.

Sir Michael Fallon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase charitable giving by allowing small residual share incentive plan balances to be donated to charity.

John Glen: Share Incentive Plans allow employees to receive shares in their employer and benefit from Income Tax, National Insurance, and Capital Gains Tax reliefs. There are no current plans to make changes to Share Incentive Plans. The government keeps all areas of the tax system under review.The dormant assets scheme enables a portion of funds from dormant accounts held by participating bank and building societies to be distributed to good causes via a central reclaim fund. The Government recently issued its response to the independent Commission of Dormant Assets, and is working with industry to consider how the scheme could be expanded to include a broader range of financial assets.

Charitable Donations: VAT Exemptions

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from VAT on supplies to charities in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from VAT on certain ships and aircraft in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The details that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) collects from taxpayers on their VAT returns are not specific enough to provide the number of people benefiting from this relief. HMRC does not require this level of detail because it would place a considerable administrative burden on businesses.

Financial Action Task Force

Helen Goodman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date he expects (a) the UK to be reviewed by the Financial Action Task Force and (b) the results of that review to be published.

John Glen: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international standard-setting body for Anti-Money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), has been conducting an in-depth review of the UK’s AML/CFT regime since September 2017. The review will conclude with a published report towards the end of 2018.

Care Homes: Minimum Wage

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many social care providers HMRC has written to in respect of such providers about allegedly underpaying minimum wage rates for sleep-in shifts; and how many of those providers have since opted into the Social Care Compliance Scheme.

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many social care providers have opted into the Social Care Compliance Scheme; how much money owed to workers has been identified through that scheme; and what estimate has been made of what that sum of money represents as a proportion of the total amount of money owed in sleep-in shift payments.

Mel Stride: The government are determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW) receives it. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid NMW should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) review all complaints that are referred to them. The Social Care Compliance Scheme (SCCS) was introduced on 1 November 2017 to provide an interim enforcement approach to the social care sector. From this date up until the 18 February 2018; · HMRC has contacted 587 social care employers inviting them to apply to join the SCCS. Of these, 424 have applied to join the SCCS, and a further 124 providers have applied to join without prior HMRC contact, making a total of 548 social care employers who have applied to join SCCS. · No arrears have been identified through SCCS to date: social care employers who join SCCS have until 31 December 2018 to declare arrears which will then be subject to assurance checks. As such the total arrears identified will not be available until after this date.

Children: Day Care

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many parents or carers entitled to 30 hours free childcare have failed to receive a code from Childcare Services as a consequence of technical issues in the last 12 months.

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will establish an MP enquiry number for the Childcare Office to assist Members' constituents as a result of technical failures relating to the generation of codes for free childcare provision.

Elizabeth Truss: HM Revenue and Customs have procedures in place to ensure that any parent who experiences a technical issue when applying for their 30 hours code through the online service do not lose out. Honourable members are able contact HM Revenue & Customs Tax Credits MP helpline in order to report issues and ask questions relating to the childcare service. The helpline is available from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.

Public Value Review

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government plans to take as a result of the findings of the Barber Review, published in November 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: At Autumn Budget 2017 the government accepted Sir Michael Barber’s recommendation to introduce a new Public Value Framework. The approach is being piloted in collaboration with departments during 2018.

State Retirement Pensions: Carers

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to increase awareness of back-dated Home Responsibilities Protection payments; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Stephens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many requests for back-dated Home Responsibilities Protections payments have been made to HMRC (a) in total, (b) by residents in Scotland and (c) by residents in Glasgow South West constituency in the last 12 months.

Mel Stride: Information on eligibility and how to apply is clearly set out on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/home-responsibilities-protection-hrp. Applications may be made for years between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2010. Home Responsibilities Protection was replaced with National Insurance credits for parents and carers on 6 April 2010. The data requested is not held centrally by HMRC so cannot be provided.

Cabinet Office

Heart Diseases: Death

Anna Soubry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths were registered with an underlying cause of sudden cardiac death in England and Wales by age in each year from 2010 to 2016.

Anna Soubry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many deaths were registered with an underlying cause of sudden cardiac death in England and Wales by region in each year from 2010 to 2016.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
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Personal Income: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average net weekly household income was for people in York in each year since 2010.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
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Crown Commercial Service

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with whom was the new Behavioural Insights Crown Commercial Services framework developed.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the suppliers are of the new Behavioural Insights Crown Commercial Services framework.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Government news story of 2 February 2018 entitled Government harnesses advances in Behavioural Insights with new framework, what the evidential basis is for the sum of £16 million cited.

Oliver Dowden: The Government’s Behavioural Insights framework was developed using the knowledge and expertise of the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and government departments, including behavioural insights specialists across government Cabinet Office . Feedback was also received from interested suppliers via a survey and an open engagement event, advertised following the publication of a Prior Information Notice on 25 May 2017. The estimated value of the framework is based on the aggregated potential demand of public sector buying organisations, as collated through the customer engagement process. Information on framework, including the successful bidders, can be found on GOV.UK:http://ccs-agreements.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/contracts/rm6004

Government Departments: Procurement

James Gray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking in its procurement policy to tackle aggressive tax avoidance by government suppliers.

Oliver Dowden: The 2015 Public Contract Regulations implemented the latest EU Public Procurement Directive, and require public bodies to exclude suppliers from a procurement where the supplier has been found guilty of breaching its obligations in relation to payment of taxes and this has been established by a judicial or administrative decision having final effect within the relevant jurisdiction.

Government Departments: ICT

James Gray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the volume of UK citizens’ data held by companies (a) supplying cloud services to Government and (b) contracted to deliver cloud services on behalf of Government that is subject to information requests from US Government bodies.

Oliver Dowden: Cabinet Office does not centrally collect the specific data requested. Information regarding contracts above the value of £10,000 is published on Contracts Finder on GOV.UK, available at https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. The Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Information Commissioner’s Office also have responsibilities in this area.

Government Departments: ICT

James Gray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether it is Government policy to award cloud hosting contracts only to US hyperscale cloud providers; how many and what proportion of Government cloud hosting contracts have been awarded to hyperscale cloud providers and what the value was of those contracts in each of the last three years.

Oliver Dowden: It is not government policy to award only to US hyperscale cloud providers. It is our policy to award contracts on the basis of value for money, whilst doing everything we can to encourage UK suppliers, and UK SME's in particular, to win business. This is achieved through competitive tender in accordance with public procurement legislation. Information on cloud hosting contracts for Government as a whole is not held centrally.

Aortic Aneurysm: Tees Valley

Andy McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many women in South Tees died from a ruptured aortic abdominal aneurysm in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Andy McDonald: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people in South Tees died from a ruptured aortic abdominal aneurysm in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and 2017.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
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Government Departments: Procurement

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to remove disproportionate financial turnover requirements in tendered Government contracts for SMEs.

Oliver Dowden: Under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Contracting Authorities are only allowed to require suppliers to have a turn over that is twice the value of the contract they are applying for.If a supplier is asked for a disproportionate turnover requirements they can report this to our Mystery Shopper Service, who will investigate on their behalf.

Government Departments: Procurement

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to support SME to compete for tendered Government contracts.

Oliver Dowden: Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and this Government is committed to supporting them in securing public sector contracts. To that end, we have already streamlined our procurement processes to assist small businesses, and we continue to focus on breaking down the barriers that might deter SMEs. We are committed to working with SMEs and our aspiration remains to spend 33% with them by the end of 2022.

Constituencies

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government intends to review the policy of reducing the size of the House of Commons from 650 seats to 600.

Chloe Smith: The Government is committed to delivering more equal and updated boundaries.The independent and impartial Boundary Commissions are currently conducting the boundary review in accordance with rules agreed by Parliament and are due to report to Government in September 2018 with their final proposals for revised constituencies.

Constituencies

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he has had recent discussions with the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the review of parliamentary constituency boundaries; and if he will make a statement.

Chloe Smith: My Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office has discussions with the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on a regular basis on a range of issues.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the key potential economic benefits for UK (a) businesses and (b) consumers of the UK agreeing trade agreements with other countries after leaving the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: As part of its preparations for future trade negotiations, the Department for International Trade (DIT) is conducting analysis of potential agreements with other countries. DIT has provided a qualitative summary of existing literature on the impacts of signing free trade agreements in the Impact Assessment accompanying the Trade Bill, available here: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA17-010.pdf The Department currently provides impact assessments to Parliament when EU trade agreements are ratified. As outlined in the White Paper “Preparing for our future trade policy”, we are committed to a transparent approach to international trade, and will ensure Parliament has an appropriate role to play in the scrutiny of new UK trade treaties.

Dumping

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what methodology the Trade Remedies Authority will use to calculate dumping margins after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: The Department has engaged extensively with business organisations in developing the UK trade remedies framework set out in the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) and Trade Bills. As is normal when setting out technical detail, the detail of dumping calculations will be set out in secondary legislation. The secondary legislation will comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. The Department is currently engaging with a wide range of stakeholders to develop this - and other - secondary legislation for trade remedies.

Trade Remedies

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the economic interest test will have the same functions and be operated on the same basis as the Union Interest Test used by the EU.

Greg Hands: The UK trade remedies system will include an economic interest test to ensure that measures are not applied where they will have a disproportionate impact on the wider UK economy.This is similar to the Union interest test currently operated by the EU- for example, both tests will be considered at the provisional and final stages of an investigation, and will operate on a starting presumption in favour of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures.But the economic interest test will be based on clear criteria set out in primary legislation. This will provide certainty and clarity for UK businesses.

Dumping: China

Gareth Snell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he had with his counterpart in the Government of China during the recent trade mission on the dumping of ceramic products by that country.

Greg Hands: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Security: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To as the Secretary of State for International Trade, which national delegations the Government invited to the annual security and policing event; and of those delegations, how many representatives attended in each year from 2010-2017.

Graham Stuart: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Security: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many journalists his Department invited to the annual security and policing event in each year from 2010-2017 and for which publications or broadcasters those journalists worked.

Graham Stuart: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Security: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many escort officers for international delegates his Department employed, from where those officers were recruited and what the grade or rank each officer was for the security and policing event in each year from 2010 to 2017.

Graham Stuart: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Arms Trade: Licensing

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 126452, what steps the Government is taking to comply with section three of the EU Firearms Directive in respect of (a) establishing a system for the regulation of the activities of dealers and brokers and (b) checking the private and professional integrity and the relevant abilities of the dealer or broker.

Graham Stuart: The Government is considering its position on these issues. Measures to transpose these requirements do not need to be in place until 14 December 2019.

Electronic Surveillance: Philippines

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the evidential basis was for the approval of the licensing of 5A001 surveillance equipment to the Philippines on 25 July 2016 under the clear risk qualification for internal repression of the Export Control Order 2008, following the statement made by President Duterte on drug dealers and addicts on taking office on 30 July 2016.

Graham Stuart: The UK operates one of the most rigorous and transparent export control systems in the world. All export licence applications are rigorously assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account all prevailing circumstances at the time of application, including reports from Non-government Organisations and our overseas network. In particular, Criterion Two concerns the â€˜respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country of final destination as well as respect by that country for international humanitarian law.The Government will not issue an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Consolidated Criteria, including if there is a clear risk that the proposed export might be used for internal repression. This assessment takes into account the specific end user and intended end use of the goods.In this particular case the licence was issued for the temporary export of the equipment for demonstration purposes and a condition of the licence was that the goods would remain under the control of the exporter.

Food: Scotland

Jamie Stone: What steps his Department is taking to promote the sale of Scottish food and drink to the international market.

Graham Stuart: This Department actively supports companies throughout the UK to promote food and drink exports. In 2017 UK food and drink exports totalled £22 billion, an increase of 7.7% in real terms on 2016. Scottish companies contribute significantly to our effort.

Technology: Israel

Bob Blackman: What steps he is taking to strengthen trade co-operation with Israel in the high-tech sector.

Graham Stuart: The UK and Israel have an important trading relationship; which we are committed to strengthening through our dedicated trade promotion team at our Embassy in Tel Aviv. We have also established a UK-Israel Tech Hub, which helps to create partnerships between British companies and Israeli technology innovators.

Exports: Small Businesses

Mr Alister Jack: What steps his Department is taking to help small and medium-sized British businesses to export.

Dr Liam Fox: The great.gov.uk website offers small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) digital tools to start or expand exporting. Companies across the UK can access our overseas network, high-value campaigns and international events programme. In addition, last year UK Export Finance provided £3 billion to 221 UK companies - 79% of which were SMEs.

Overseas Trade

Mohammad Yasin: What steps he is taking to ensure that the Government’s trade policy maintains and promotes high standards of animal welfare.

Dr Liam Fox: This Government is proud of the animal welfare standards that underpin our high quality, great British produce. We are determined to maintain these high standards and keep improving where possible. We have no intention of undercutting our own reputation for quality by lowering our animal welfare standards in pursuit of a trade deal.

Trade Agreements: Developing Countries

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: What recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of UK trade deals with poorer countries on the economies of those countries.

Greg Hands: The UK is proudly committed to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income on Overseas Development Assistance, the first G7 country to honour its promise to do so.The Cross-Border Trade Bill will allow the UK to put in place a trade preference scheme as we leave the EU. In the future, the Government will also explore options to expand our relationships with developing countries.

UK Trade with EU

Carolyn Harris: What estimate his Department has made of the number of new institutions required to replicate the terms of existing trade agreements with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to seeking continuity to minimise disruption to businesses, consumers and our trading partners and we will ensure that the institutional provisions of existing agreements are met as the UK begins to operate an independent trade policy.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: What steps his Department has taken to ensure the compliance of the arms export sector with consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria.

Graham Stuart: Military exports from the UK require export licences. All export licence applications are considered on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, based on the most up-to-date information and analysis available, including reports from NGOs and our overseas network.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Youth Social Action Review

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when his Department plans to respond to the recommendations made by the youth full-time social action review.

Tracey Crouch: We are carefully considering the recommendations made by the Review of Full Time Social Action by Young People. The Government will issue its response in due course.

European Capital of Culture

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make representations to the European Commission to reverse its decision that UK cities cannot bid to be the European Capital of Culture for 2023.

Michael Ellis: The matter was raised urgently with the European Commission after we were informed of their decision to discontinue UK cities' participation in the European Capital of Culture programme and discussions are ongoing. We will continue to work with the five cities that submitted bids and will be meeting their representatives again shortly.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Michael Ellis: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Data Protection

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has received representations on the provisions for data protection breaches in the Data Protection Bill; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: We have received a wide range of queries and correspondence from organisations and individuals during passage of the Bill about the Information Commissioner’s role in enforcing the new legislation, the increased administrative fines she will be able to impose for data breaches under the new legislation, and the criminal penalties that may be available for the very worst data breaches. Many of the Commissioner’s existing functions, such as powers to make codes of practice and guidance, her range of investigatory and enforcement powers are all preserved by the Bill to support organisations to achieve compliance. However, we have also modernised some of the tools at her disposal, including through the creation of a new offence of unlawfully re-identifying encrypted data, to keep pace with changes in technology and the way that the use of data has evolved. Further guidance on the ICO’s enforcement powers can be viewed on the Bill website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/644818/2017-09-06_Factsheet05_Bill_ICO.pdf

House of Commons Commission

Palace of Westminster: Post Offices

Frank Field: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 1 February 2018 to Question 122128, if he will provide an assurance that no further reductions will be made to the opening hours of the Post Office in Central Lobby.

Tom Brake: In the last Parliament, committees in both Houses agreed a Memorandum of Understanding between Parliament and Post Office Counters Ltd (POCL) to formalise the arrangement under which POCL provide counter services to Parliament. Due to the importance of counter services on the parliamentary estate to Members of both Houses, this agreement provides assurance that the service would not be withdrawn or changed without consultation with and notice to Members.

Parliamentary Estate: Waste Management

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the process and manner of disposal is for Parliament's (a) food waste and (b) unused packaged food.

Tom Brake: Food and catering waste from catering facilities is segregated at the kitchens and is recovered offsite by means of anaerobic digestion to produce methane fuel and fertiliser. No catering waste from Parliament is sent to landfill.Food waste from offices is not currently segregated but the feasibility of this is currently being considered.

Women and Equalities

Pregnancy: Discrimination

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she has taken in response to recommendations by the Equality and Human Rights Commission on women taking pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases against their employers to a tribunal.

Victoria Atkins: Anyone who believes that they have faced discrimination in employment because of pregnancy and maternity is entitled to bring a claim for discrimination in an Employment Tribunal. The report of research undertaken by the then Department for Business Innovation and Skills and the EHRC into pregnancy and maternity related discrimination and disadvantage, published in 2015-16, made two recommendations intended to help women take pregnancy and maternity discrimination cases to an Employment Tribunal: in light of the findings of the review, make changes to the Employment Tribunal fee system to ensure that fees are not a barrier to accessing justice for women experiencing pregnancy and maternity discrimination, andconsider increasing the time limit for a woman to bring an Employment Tribunal claim in cases involving pregnancy and maternity discrimination from three to six months, in line with other employment claims such as redundancy and equal pay. Fees for bringing a claim before an Employment Tribunal have now been withdrawn, following the case of R (on the application of Unison) v Lord Chancellor on Employment Tribunals fees. We immediately stopped charging fees in Employment Tribunals after the Supreme Court judgment and said we would refund those who had paid fees. The full refund scheme was launched on 15 November.   Tribunal rules already allow the time limit to bring a claim be extended where it is just and equitable to do so. Government has asked H.M. Court and Tribunal Service to consider the scope for collecting data on the number of requests made for extensions and the types of cases involved. The Government will consider the results of any exercise carefully to see if any further action is required.

Gender Recognition

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what the timetable is for the publication of the consultation on the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Victoria Atkins: We will be publishing the consultation of the Gender Recognition Act in due course. We have, as part of our recent LGBT survey, asked about the views and experiences of transgender people who have applied for a Gender Recognition Certificate under the GRA. We will publish the results of this survey shortly. We have already begun engaging with a wide range of people and organisations to understand their views. These organisations include transgender, LGBT, women’s rights and faith groups. The Government recognises that there is a wide range of views on the Act. It has been valuable to hear these different voices prior to the consultation. We are also working across Whitehall to ensure we fully understand what impact there could be from any reform to the Gender Recognition Act.

Females: Human Rights

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on ensuring that the rights of women and other people with protected characteristics under EU law are retained after the UK leaves the EU.

Victoria Atkins: The Government has made clear – including in our response last Autumn to the report from the Women & Equalities Select Committee on ensuring strong equalities legislation after leaving the EU – that all the protections covered in the Equality Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland will continue to apply after we have left the EU.The Equality Act 2010 is the cornerstone of equalities legislation in Great Britain, including provisions transposing the four relevant EU Directives and other measures which go beyond EU requirements, for example our gender pay gap reporting and the public sector equality duty. This shows that we do not have to be part of the EU to be a world leader in equalities.

Equal Pay

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that companies meet their obligation to report on and produce an action plan to address gender pay gaps by 4 April 2018.

Victoria Atkins: In 2017 the government introduced ground-breaking regulations requiring large employers to publish specific gender pay gap data. In this first year of reporting we are focussed on ensuring employers are aware of their obligations and that they report by the deadline.The Government Equalities Office is working closely with employers to raise awareness of their obligations under the gender pay gap regulations, and is supporting them to report. They have written to employers to notify them of the requirement to report, and guidance on reporting, produced in partnership with Acas, is available online:www.acas.org.uk/genderpayThey are also encouraging organisations to go beyond the mandatory requirements and publish an action plan, setting out how they intend to close their gender pay gap.

Equal Pay

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what penalties are available for companies that fail to report on gender pay gaps by 4 April 2018.

Victoria Atkins: Large employers have to report their gender pay gap by the deadline, 30 March for the public sector and 4 April for the private and voluntary sector. This is not optional; it is the law.Failing to comply with the new gender pay gap regulations would be an unlawful act under section 34 of the Equality Act 2006 and be subject to Equality and Human Rights Commission enforcement.Employers who fail to report on time will be in breach of the regulations and risk facing legal action from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This could ultimately lead to court orders and fines.

Pupils: Sanitary Protection

Layla Moran: What steps the Government is taking to provide sanitary products to all school students who cannot afford to buy those products.

Victoria Atkins: No girl should be held back from reaching her potential because of her gender. This is why our guidance on Sex and Relationships Education encourages schools to make adequate and sensitive arrangements to help girls cope with menstruation. Schools have discretion over how they use their funding and can make sanitary products available to disadvantaged pupils if they identify this as a barrier to attainment or attendance.

Domestic Violence

Mr Virendra Sharma: What recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the timetable for the draft Domestic Violence and Abuse Bill.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Secretary and Lord Chancellor will shortly be launching a public consultation into the Government's response to domestic abuse. The analysis of this consultation will inform the draft Domestic Abuse Bill, which we intend to publish later this session.

Employment: Mothers

Mr Simon Clarke: What steps the Government is taking to support women back into the workplace after having children.

Victoria Atkins: In the Spring Budget of 2017, the Government committed £5 million to support people returning to work after time out for caring. We have announced programmes for returning allied health professionals, social workers and those that want to join the Civil Service. We are gathering evidence on what works in the private sector and in Spring will publish best practice guidance for large and small employers.